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A. M. D. G. 

^OLIC FOOTSTEPS 

IN 

NEW YORK 



vnicle of Catholicity in the 
New Tor k from 1524 to 1808. 



LLIAM HARPER BENNETT. 



NEW rORK 
VARTZ, KIRWIN AND FAUSS 
1909. 



IFlibU ©bstat 



Umprlmatur 






^] 



New York, February 7, 1909. 



LIBRARY of CONGB 
Two Copies Recelv 

FEB 21 18C 

Oopyrlgnt Entry 
cuss 4v ' XXc. I 



Copyright, 1909, by Wi 



Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co. 
New York 



INTRODUCTORY 

Herein is chronicled the coming of Catholics 
to what is now the Western Metropolis between 
the years 1524 and 1808. The following pages set 
forth the manner of men they were, the reasons 
for their coming and some of the things they ob- 
served, what they accomplished and what some of 
them suffered. The history of the long narrow 
island between the East and North rivers is inter- 
woven, because of these visitors, settlers or cap- 
tives, with the histories of the whole Western 
hemisphere, and of England, Ireland, Scotland, 
France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Germany and 
Africa. 

He who attempts to tell the story of Cath- 
olicity in New York must wander far afield and 
gather cubes from many lands to construct the 
wondrous mosaic pictures of its rise, its progress 
and its present greatness. 

On the threshold of life the men and women 
whose careers are recorded herein received Cath- 
olic baptism. A few won the martyr's crown, 
the lives of others were saintly, many were faith- 
ful to the end, an appalling number, because of a 
lack of spiritual succor in the early days, lost the 
Faith, and some others, among them a few who 
should have been " leaders in Israel," became a 
reproach to their forebears. 

A mustard seed was planted here and the 
strong winds of persecution sought to uproot the 



vi INTRODUCTORY 

tender shoot, but the gentle rains of sacrifice nur- 
tured it, and it has grown into a mighty tree with 
the roots deep in the soil, a very king among 
trees, and the sunlight of God's favor falls upon 
it in benediction. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Among the many who have kindly responded to requests 
for information and assistance in the compilation of these 
pages were Martin I. J. Griffin, of Philadelphia, Pa. All 
writers on American Catholic historical matters must ex- 
press grateful acknowledgment for assistance from this 
indefatigable researcher; Marc F. Vallette, LL.D.; the 
Right Reverend Monsignor T. E. Hamel, V.G., of Laval 
University, Quebec, P. Q. ; The Reverend A. Gosselin, of 
the Seminary of Quebec, P. Q. ; the Honorable C. Langelier, 
of Quebec, P. Q.; Patrick O'Reilly, of Granard, Ireland; 
A. R. Macdonald, of the New York State Education Depart- 
ment; Charles G. Herbermann, Ph.D., LL.D.; Robert and 
George B. McGinnis, of New York City; Francis Gottsberger, 
of Brooklyn, N. Y. 



CONTENTS 

LATTER PAGE 

I — Concerning Giovanni da Verrazano and Some 
Others who Crossed the Western Ocean and 
Touched the Coast of the New Land at Lati- 
tude 40° North 1 

II — In which the Dutch Settle on the Island of 
Manants and Thereto Comes One of the 
Society of Jesus who had Suffered for 
Christ's Sake . . . . . .15 

III — In which an English Earl Palatine Comes to 
New Amsterdam, and with His Amazing 
Claim Kindles the Wrath of William the 
"Testy" 37 

IV — New Amsterdam again Becomes a Haven of 
Refuge for a Jesuit Missionary to the Iro- 
quois ........ 42 

V — Father Simon Le Moyne's Visit to New Am- 
sterdam and What He Saw There . . 45 

VI — New York's First Catholic Ruler finds Him- 
self Enmeshed in Difficulties . . .65 

VII — In which a Catholic Governor Proclaims 

Civil and Religious Freedom . . .82 

VIII — How a German Usurper Ruled with a High 

Hand and ended His Career on the Gallows . 112 

IX — In which the Presence in the City of " Pap- 
ists " French Prisoners and Jesuits Makes the 
New Yorkers Nervous . . . .186 

X — In which " La Renomee " Ha^ng Departed, 
Governor Bellomont Waxes Bold Against 
Priests and Becomes Solicitous for the Souls 
of the Indians ...... 206 



viii CONTENTS 



XI — In which Many of the " Poor Persecuted 
Protestants " from the Palatinate are Dis- 
covered to be " Papists " . . . . 220 

XII — In which the Enslaving of Spanish Freemen 

Leads to a Bloody Reckoning . . . 233 

XIII — In which a Case of Burglary is Transformed 

into a " Popish " Plot .... 250 

XIV — In which Many French and Spanish Pris- 
oners of War and Refugees Come to the City, 
Including an Apostate Recollect . . .289 

XV — Concerning New York Privateersmen and 

Their Inhuman Traffic in Spanish Freemen . 296 

XVI — In which Acadian Exiles and French Pris- 
oners of War Swell the City's Population . 316 

XVII — Concerning Some Catholics who Fought and 
Labored for American Independence and 
Others who Fought Against it . . . 334! 

XVIII — Concerning Catholics and Catholicity in New 
York During the Closing Years of the Eigh- 
teenth Century . . . . . .361 

XIX — Concerning Catholics and Catholicity in the 
City from the Dawn of the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury imtil the Erection of the City into an 
Episcopal See ...... 389 

XX — Concerning Catholicity in the City at the Be- 
ginning of the Nineteenth Century until the 
Erection of the City into an Episcopal See. 
(^Concluded) ...... 432 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



View of New Amsterdam 
Giovanni da Verrazano 
Father Isaac Jogues^ S.J. 
King James II, of England . 
Jacob Leisler's House and the Fort 
Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur D'Iberville 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
Most Reverend John Carroll 
St. Peter's Church 
Federal Hall 
Daniel Carroll 
Eight Reverend Richard Luke Con 
canen, o.s.d. .... 



Frontispiece 
To face p. 9 
36^ 
110/ 
128^ 
204 
S42 
368 
379 
389 
398, 

459^ 



CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS IN 
OLD KEW YOKK 

CHAPTER I 

CONCERNING GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO AND SOME 
OTHERS WHO CROSSED THE WESTERN OCEAN 
AND TOUCHED THE COAST OF THE NEW LAND AT 
LATITUDE 40° NORTH 

For days the little caravel " Dauphin " had 
been sailing north by day and lying at anchor 
by night. Westward a low, sandy coast, dotted 
here and there, after nightfall, with the watch 
fires of the natives, eastward the mysterious 
ocean. 

Giovanni da Verrazano, a typical sea rover of 
the sixteenth century, was master of the cockle- 
shell and he had been dispatched by King Francis 
I, of France, to seek a shorter northern passage 
to the Moluccas or Spice Islands, in the Malay 
Archipelago, than by the southern strait dis- 
covered by Magellan. Val di Grave, a little 
village near Florence, was Verrazano's birth- 
place. Here, about 1485, he was born of Piero 
Andrea di Bernardo da Verrazano and Fiametta 
Capella his wife. Little is known of his earlier 
years. During his boyhood Europe was elec- 
trified by news of the discovery of a new world 



2 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

by Columbus and the thoughts of Verrazano, 
hke those of many another Italian lad, were 
drawn to the vast western ocean and the unknown 
lands beyond. He went to sea at an early age on 
one of the vessels that traded between the coast 
cities of Italy and the African Mediterranean 
ports, for the silks, spices and other products of 
the far East. He journeyed to Cairo and Syria 
and voyaged to the East Indies in a Portuguese 
ship. He is supposed to have been in the Spanish 
service, and to have been keenly alert to acquire 
knowledge to fit him for the venture in which he 
was to embark later. 

Hernando Cortez had conquered Mexico and 
the capital city of the Montezumas. Its untold 
wealth had fallen into the hands of the invaders, 
and fleet after fleet, laden with gold, silver and 
precious merchandise, and guarded by warships, 
sailed from Mexico and the West Indies to 
Spain. Spain was jealous and covetous where 
her new possessions and their wealth were con- 
cerned, and she excited the cupidity of her neigh- 
bors. There is an amazing difference between 
international relations three hundred and eighty 
years ago and to-day. Neutrality laws were 
unknown. It was an age of mercenaries on land 
and privateers or corsairs on the sea. Soldiers 
and sailors, free rovers afloat and ashore, could 
be hired at so much a head, and their share of 
the plunder. Some of England's most renowned 
naval heroes were buccaneers and slave traders. 
Henry Morgan, the pirate, after a career stained 
with massacre and pillage, was knighted by 
King Charles II, and served as a Commissioner 
of the Admiralty and Lieutenant-Governor of 



IN OLD NEW YORK 3 

Jamaica. Sir Francis Drake, when England 
and Spain were at peace, sacked Spanish towns 
on the Isthmus of Panama and along the coast 
of Spanish America and on his return to England 
was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Sir John 
Hawkins carried cargoes of slaves from Africa 
to the West Indies and the Spanish main. Such 
were the doings of eminent commanders in those 
days, and Giovanni da Verrazano was little better 
than his compeers. 

Several richly laden galleons were captured 
within sight of the Spanish coast and the news 
spread through the peninsula that a daring 
corsair, by name Juan Florentin, or John the 
Florentine, was lying in wait off the coast for 
homeward bound treasure ships. There is little 
doubt that John the Florentine and Giovanni da 
Verrazano were the same man and there is less 
doubt that his fleet of four caravels, swift sailers 
of light draught, were provided by King Francis 
I of France who was a partner in the venture. 
The Andalusian coast of Spain is high, indented 
with wild and sterile valleys. It is sparsely in- 
habited between the city of Cadiz and the 
straits of Gibraltar. On these high headlands the 
corsairs posted their watchers and when the sails 
of a galleon, which always first sighted land at 
Cape Trafalgar, were observed by the lookout, a 
swift signal was flashed to the caravels below, an- 
chors were weighed, sails spread, decks cleared 
for action, guns manned and like birds of prey 
the corsairs swooped down on the unsuspecting 
Spaniards. Verrazano's first recorded capture 
was a ship from Hispaniola or Hayti. The 
cargo consisted of eighty thousand gold ducats. 



4 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and a quantity of pearls and sugar. The prize, 
manned by its cai^tors, was hurried up the coasts 
of Portugal and Spain to the port of La 
Rochelle, where it was condemned and sold. 

After several more treasure ships were cap- 
tured Spain began to realize that action was 
necessary to protect her commerce. A small 
fleet was sent out which defeated seven French 
corsairs near Cape St. Vincent on the Spanish 
coast and recaptured a prize. The following 
year another Spanish fleet retook from John the 
Florentine seven captured emigrant ships. 

Three warships and three treasure ships sailed 
from Santa Maria of the Azores for Spain in 
May, 1523. Two of the galleons had been 
dispatched by Hernando Cortez from Mexico, 
the third was sent from Hayti. The cargoes, 
the richest ever shipped from Spanish America, 
consisting of gold, jewels, rarities and live ani- 
mals, were valued at one and a half million dollars. 
A strict watch for corsairs was maintained, but 
not a sail was sighted until the fleet was within 
thirty-five miles of Cape St. Vincent. The 
lookout reported a sail, then another, and yet 
another, until six caravels had risen above the 
horizon. There was great joy on the home- 
ward bound vessels, because their crews were 
sure that the oncoming fleet was of Spanish 
warships, come to escort them to port and they 
were certain that no French corsairs would dare 
attack so powerful an escort. On came the 
caravels, the crews of the Spanish vessels greet- 
ing them with welcoming shouts, but their joyous 
huzzas were changed to cries of rage and defi- 
ance when the decks of the caravels swarmed 



IN OLD NEW YORK 5 

with armed men who poured a murderous fire 
into them. The cries arose: "Juan Florin!" 
"Juan Florin!" 

Sure enough, the dreaded Verrazano was in 
command. One of the Spanish warships put 
about and escaped, the commander of another 
was killed. It has been the rule of many writers 
in the English language to describe the Spanish 
soldier and sailor as a coward and a craven. A 
base calumny on a brave and gallant nation, 
whether of four centuries ago or to-day. Not- 
withstanding their disadvantages the Spaniards 
fought bravely but outnumbered, they were 
compelled to surrender. Verrazano took his 
immensely valuable capture to La Rochelle and 
a portion of the plunder was graciously accepted 
by King Francis. 

There was an outburst of wrath in Spain over 
this theft of a million and a half dollars by the 
ships of a supposedly friendly nation on the high 
seas. Fleets were sent out to scour the coasts of 
Spain and France for Verrazano. Orders were 
issued that no homeward bound Spanish treasure 
ships should sail unless guarded by a powerful 
fleet of war vessels. Verrazano again went to 
sea with a more powerful fleet, but the Spanish 
coast had become an exceedingly perilous cruis- 
ing ground, and it was then the corsair bethought 
him of a promise he had made to his royal patron, 
Francis, to sail to the new world and seek a 
shorter passage to the Moluccas. 

Thirteen miles off the coast of the island of 
Madeira, a Portuguese possession, lie desolate 
rocks know as the Desiertas. Verrazano there 
prepared his ship, the " Dauphin," a caravel of 



6 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

less than one hundred tons, for the venture into 
unknown seas. He stowed a cargo of provisions, 
arms and ammunition sufficient for an eight 
months' voyage, and shipped a crew of sea rovers 
as bold and fearless as himself. 

January 27th, 1524, the anchor was weighed, 
the ship headed westward and, with a gentle 
easterly wind, the long voyage began. Until 
mid February the caravel ploughed placid seas 
under smiling skies, then came a change and 
Verrazano asserts that no sailor ever encoun- 
tered a more terrible tempest. For three weeks 
more the little ship held its westward way until 
one day the lookout saw a low line of sand, 
fringed with the white foam of breakers. This 
w^as in latitude 34° north. The crew saw col- 
umns of smoke rising from great fires and knew 
the land was inhabited. The fires had been 
kindled by the Indians who, in the early spring, 
flocked to the ocean shore to feast on shellfish, 
and to manufacture from the shells wampum or 
sea wan, as their legal tender was called. As no 
harbor was visible the vessel coasted southward 
for some distance, but not finding a bay the 
course was changed and she stood northward, 
Verrazano keeping a sharp lookout for an inlet. 
Passing the mouth of what we call Chesapeake 
Bay in the night, he landed next day, with a body 
of men crossed the neck of land and beheld the 
great expanse of waters. This he concluded was 
the Indian Ocean, and he redoubled his search 
for an inlet, anchoring by night and sailing by 
day. Landing parties were kindly received by 
the natives, but their kindness and civility were 
illy requited by the theft of an Indian boy. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 7 

Holding their northward course, the voyagers 
were becoming wearied with the sameness of the 
sandy coast until one day, in about latitude 40° 
north, there was a change in the coast and the 
sandy bar ended in a low point of land, off which 
the " Dauphin " arrived about the last of April, 
1524. This designated on MaioUo's map, drawn 
three years later, as C. de S. Maria, the Cape of 
St. Mary, is known to-day as Sandy Hook. 
Rounding the point the "Dauphin" cast anchor in 
a spacious roadstead, the first European vessel 
to enter the bay of what was to become the great 
western metropolis. Manning the ship's boat 
Verrazano started on an exploring expedition. 
What he saw he told his royal patron later in 
these words : " At the end of one hundred 
leagues we discovered a very delightful place 
among some small hills, eminences, between 
which ran a very great river (una grandissima 
riviera) to the ocean, which was deep within to 
the mouth, and from the sea to the enlargement 
of the bay the rise of the tide was eight feet, and 
through it any heavy ship can pass. As in good 
duty we did not wish to run the risk of pene- 
trating the coast without knowledge of the 
mouth of the river, we took the boat and entered 
the river within the country where we found it 
to be thickly inhabited and the people resembhng 
the others we had seen, adorned with bird's 
feathers of different colors, coming towards us 
with evident delight, uttering very loud cries of 
admiration, indicating, if we had to land with 
the boat, where it was most safe. We entered 
the said river within the country about half a 
league, where we saw it formed a most beautiful 



8 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

lake (un bellissimo lago), about three leagues in 
compass, upon which we saw boats, thirty in 
number, moving from one part to another with 
innumerable people, who passed from shore to 
shore to see us. Very suddenly, as is wont to 
happen to those navigating, an impetuous con- 
trary wind blew in from the sea, compelling us 
to return to the ship. We departed from this 
region with much displeasure on account of its 
extent and attractiveness, for we believed that it 
was not without some resources of wealth as all 
the hills indicated the existence of minerals in 
them." 

Whether a priest accompanied Verrazano on 
his voyage and offered the Divine Sacrifice dur- 
ing the stay of the "Dauphin" in the Great River, 
as Verrazano called it, there is no record. The 
Reverend J. Morgan Dix, D.D., writing of 
Verrazano's voyage, says: "Whether any one 
of the jDriestly order accompanied Verrazano on 
this voyage cannot be positively affirmed; it is 
altogether likely; indeed it would be next to 
impossible that this should not have been the case. 
Religious services of some kind or other were 
undoubtedly held, while his ship lay in the port 
which he has so accurately described ; for he says 
elsewhere of the natives : ' They are very easily 
persuaded, and imitated us with earnestness and 
fervor in all they saw us do in our act of 
worship ! ' " 

Saihng between Cape St. Mary and " Angui- 
leme," as he named a point of land on what is 
now Long Island, he sent a boat ashore on what 
is now Rockaway Beach and again at Quogue. 
Passing Montauk Point and Block Island he ob- 




GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO 



IN OLD NEW YORK 9 

served the mouth of the Thames River and 
anchored in Narragansett Bay. 

Rounding" Cape Cod, he sailed until he reached 
a point on the Maine coast. Here, his naval 
stores and provisions running low, he refilled his 
water casks and set sail for France, arriving at 
Dieppe twenty-eight days later, July 8th. Of 
his subsequent career little authentic is known. 
The year after his voyage his patron, Francis I, 
was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia. Rich- 
ard Hakluyt, an English historian of the times, 
says that Verrazano laid before Henry VIII the 
results of his voyage and a map of his discoveries. 
Of the whereabouts of this map nothing is known. 
In 1526 Verrazano, who was then about forty-six 
years old, entered into an agreement with Philipe 
Chabot, Admiral of France, Preudhomme, Gen- 
eral of Normandy and others, to go on a mercan- 
tile venture as commander or pilot of a squadron 
of three ships. Although termed a mercantile 
venture this voyage was probably a privateer- 
ing cruise in Spanish waters, but nothing definite 
is known of its results. This is the last authentic 
record concerning Verrazano. 

A Spanish historian writes that in the autumn 
of 1527 Verrazano, while cruising off the Spanish 
coast, was attacked by a fleet of six Biscayan 
ships and was captured. He endeavored to 
bribe his captors offering them thirty thousand 
ducats to release him. While on the way from 
Cadiz to Madrid he and his guards were over- 
taken by a Judge of Cadiz with an order from 
the Emperor, Charles V, by virtue of which 
Verrazano was put to death. The historian 
Ramusio, says that on a second voyage to 



10 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

America Verrazano was captured, killed and 
eaten by Canadian Indians. 

The year following Verrazano's discovery of 
what is now called New York Bay, another 
caravel sailed past the low lying spit of land into 
the great roadstead. It flew the banner of Spain 
and was commanded by the renowned pilot 
Estavan Gomez. He named Verrazano's Cape 
of St. Mary, Cabo de Arenas or Sandy Cape, 
which was later transformed into Sandy Hook. 
The Bay of New York was named by him St. 
Christobel and the great river of the mountains, 
the San Antonio, according to Diego Ribera's 
map. Gomez was born in Spain in 1474 or 
1478. 

When Magellan went to Spain to lay before 
the Emperor his project for reaching the Spice 
Islands by sailing westward, Gomez who had 
petitioned for some caravels for an expedition to 
make new discoveries, was set aside and he had to 
be satisfied with the subordinate position of a 
pilot under Magellan. He incited his crew to 
mutiny on the voyage and returned to Europe. 
He was a delegate to the congress held in 
Badajos in 1524 to settle the differences between 
Spain and Portugal over the limits of their 
colonial discoveries. 

Adventurous explorers, traders, and fishermen 
crossed the ocean from France. Some of them 
sailing up the " Grande " River of the mountains 
were impressed at sight of the Palisades and 
Weise in his "Discoveries of America to the Year 
1525," says that they were named " LAnormee 
Berge" (The Grand Scarp). In time the ter- 
ritory thereabouts was known as "La Terre 



IN OLD NEW YORK 11 

d'Enorme Berge" and this became corrupted into 
Norumbega. Gerard Mercator on a terrestrial 
globe made in 1541 represents the " Grande " 
River as if its channel were filled with " anormee 
berges," which he designates with the misspelled 
name " Anorumbega." On a map of the world, 
made for King Henry II of France, the name 
" Anorobagra " is applied to the Great River. 
The French traders found the Manants, 
as they named the Indians, living on the 
island at the mouth of the Great River, very 
friendly and willing to trade for their furs and 
peltries. There was an Indian village, in what is 
now the city of New York, located on the 
borders of a lake covering the ground included 
in the blocks bounded by Elm, Baxter, Worth 
and Franklin streets. Near the south end of this 
lake was a small island on which the French fur 
factors erected a fortified trading house. Of the 
date of the erection of this little fort and the 
length of its existence there are no records. 
These hardy adventurers pushed their expeditions 
nearly to the head of navigation of the Great 
River and on an island not far from Albany 
began the erection of a castle that was unfor- 
tunately destroyed by a freshet before its com- 
pletion. 

The Labadist missionaries, D ankers and 
Sluyters were told by the Indians that the ruins 
were the remains of a structure built by the 
Spaniards and a historian surmises that as 
De Ayllon, the founder of San Miguel Guadape, 
that stood on the site of the present Jamestown, 
Virginia, pushed his exploration south and east 
of New York, the Van Rensselaer Island ruins 



12 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

may have been those of a fortified place erected 
by his party. 

Roberval commanded a fleet that anchored in 
the harbor of St. John's Newfoundland, June 
8th, 1542. His chief pilot, and commander of 
one of his vessels, was Jehan or Jean Allef onsce, 
a man nearly sixty years old and renowned in 
the annals of the Norman coast. He was a 
native of Saintonge near Cognac and Champlain 
called him the hardiest mariner of his time. He 
was brave, adventurous, of a haughty spirit; a 
man of ability and greatly admired for his 
daring as a fighter and his skill as a pilot. In 
his earlier days he had been, like Verrazano, a 
privateer or corsair, and his great zeal against 
the Spaniards prompted Francis I to detain him 
a prisoner at Poictiers as a sop to Spain. Dur- 
ing the summer of 1542, Roberval ordered 
Allef onsce to cruise along the coast of Labrador 
to find if possible a passage to the West. The 
ice was so thick that he was compelled to abandon 
the search. Then, or at some other time, he 
explored the St. Lawrence River to the mouth 
of the Saguenay. Continuing his exploration 
southward he entered Massachusetts Bay and 
coming to Long Island Sound sailed its length. 

In the National Library in Paris is preserved 
a Cosmographie attributed to Allef onsce. What 
is supposed to describe the western end of Long 
Island Sound and the East River reads: " This 
river is wider than forty leagues of latitude at its 
mouth, and within the width is as much as thirty 
or forty leagues, and it is full of islands, which 
extend twelve or fourteen leagues in the sea, and 
it is very dangerous on account of rocks and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 13 

swashings." AUefonsce here evidently describes 
the boiHng and bubbling cauldron of Hell Gate. 
He was probably the first to sail the waters of 
the Sound and make the passage of the turbulent 
stretch iat its western end. One can appreciate 
the bravery of AUefonsce and his hardy crew in 
navigating the awesome passage of this un- 
charted strait. Rounding the island of the 
Manants he sailed up the river past the town of 
" Norombegue." Of the Great Scarp or Pali- 
sades he wrote: "On the side towards the west 
of the said town (Norombegue) there are many 
rocks which extend to the sea about fifteen 
miles." Norombegue was at this time an Indian 
village, the French trading post having dis- 
appeared, no record remaining to tell when or 
how. Was it wiped out in a sudden uprising of 
the Indians, such as frequently threatened 
the little Dutch town that replaced it? Of the 
river, AUefonsce wrote that it was salty for 
eighty-eight miles. He sailed his ship to the 
height of navigable water. After following the 
sea for forty-one years the brave old Sainton- 
geois was mortally wounded in a fight with the 
Spaniard, Menendez, near the reef of La 
Rochelle. Of him his eulogist MeHn Saint Gelais 
wrote : 

"La mort aussi n'a point craint son eifroy, 
Ses gros canons, ses darts, son feu, sa fouldre, 

Mais I'assaillant I'a mis en tel desroy. 

Que rien de luy ne reste plus que poudre." 

Andre Thevet, a Franciscan monk, went out 
with an expedition of French Huguenots, sent 
by Admiral Coligny to Brazil in 1555. The 



14 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

expedition landed at what is now Rio Janeiro, 
but, after a stay of ten weeks, Thevet left on a 
homeward bound vessel that coasted the shores 
of North America. There is no evidence that 
he landed at any point and historians regard the 
account of his voyage as unreliable. For thirty- 
six years France was rent with civil war and 
during its continuance there was a cessation of 
French- American exploration. 

Eighty-five years after the anchor of Verra- 
zano's " Dauphin " had rested on the bottom of 
the lower bay, Henry Hudson, supplied with 
maps by Captain John Smith of Virginia and 
induced by him to explore Verrazano's Great 
River, dropped the anchor of the Dutch yacht 
"Halve Maen" (Half Moon) in about the 
same place and " discovered " what is now the 
Bay of New York. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 15 



CHAPTER II 

in which the dutch settle on the island of 
manants and thereto comes one of the 
society of jesus who had suffered for 
Christ's sake 

Dermer, an English sea captain, sailing in 
1619 from Virginia to New England, " met 
on his passage with certain Hollanders who had 
a trade in the Hudson's River some years before 
that time." The little Dutch settlement had 
come to stay and grew year by year. In 1614 
there was a petition sent to the States-General 
of the Netherlands by a syndicate of Dutch 
merchants for a special license to trade up and 
down that river (the Hudson) , "and they affixed 
to their petition," says John Fiske in his " Dutch 
and Quaker Colonies in America," a manuscript 
map enriched with explanatory notes and memo- 
randa. In these notes it is stated that the French 
were the discoverers of the river and had traded 
there with the Mohawks long before Hudson's 
time. Even in that early day of this settlement 
of Calvinists there were Catholic footsteps on 
Manhattan Island. In a company of the 
soldiers sent up the Hudson, in 1626, to garrison 
the blockhouse at Fort Orange, or Albany, as it 
is called, were two Catholics. 

At the expiration of the twelve years truce 



16 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

with Spain in 1621, war between the Netherlands 
and Spain was renewed. The little village on 
Manhattan Island embarked in privateering and 
in 1643 the privateer frigate, " La Garce," com- 
manded by Captain Blauvelt, brought into the 
harbor a Spanish bark from Cuba laden with 
tobacco, sugar and ebony and another from New 
Spain with a cargo of wine. These were the 
earliest recorded prizes carried into the port. 
They were the forerunners of many hundreds 
of others in its history, that added enormously to 
its wealth and greatly to its infamy. In time 
privateering became piracy and New York was 
the notorious nest of the most unscrupulous buc- 
caneers on the globe. 

Catholics formed the bulk of the population 
of France in that day and non-Catholics in 
Spain were few, therefore when a French or 
Spanish prize was brought into port, condemned 
and sold, its crew, a majority of whom, it is safe 
to say, were Catholics, were put ashore as 
prisoners of w^ar and held until exchanged. 

It is early September, 1643. A little sloop, 
six days out from Beverswyck, Rensselaerswyck 
Colony, as the present City of Albany was then 
called, has sighted the high flagstaff of Fort 
Amsterdam, that stood at the southern extremity 
of Manhattan Island. The orange, white and 
blue flag is flapping lazily in the air. When the 
sloop is abreast of the fort those on board can 
see that it is a quadrangle three hundred feet 
long by two hundred and fifty feet in breadth, 
with a bastion on each corner. The fort re- 
sembles a big mound of earth and not a very 
secure mound at that, because there are deep 



IN OLD NEW YORK 17 

fissures in its sides and a dilapidated crumbling 
look about it generally. Evidently its inmates 
are aware of its condition because a number of 
negroes, under overseers, are at work facing one 
of the bastions with stone. On the southwest 
corner stands a big windmill, its revolving 
tower and long arms moving lazily. Over the 
ramparts can be seen a large tiled roof stone 
edifice with two high pitched gables and, rising 
between, a tower with an odd-shaped cupola 
topped with a weather vane. This is the church. 
Nearby stands a brick house of goodly size sur- 
rounded by smaller houses. Between the outer 
wall of the fort and the waters of the bay is a 
cluster of thatch-roofed and wooden-chimneyed 
domiciles strangely out of place in front of the 
fort's guns, and in a decidedly dangerous 
position if an enemy's fleet threatened the city. 
A short distance from the fort loom up a gal- 
lows and pillory. 

The sloop kept well out in the stream to avoid 
the Capske, a ledge of rock that jutted out of 
the water, now covered by Battery Park, and 
glided through the channel between Pagganck 
(now Governor's) Island and the point of Man- 
hattan Island, into the East River to the anchor- 
age ground. 

A short distance along the shore the eye was 
attracted by a big stone house, evidently but 
recently completed. Its five stories made it 
tower over the one and two-story houses of the 
town. It was the new tavern or Harburg, 
afterwards to become the Stadt Huys or 
City Hall, until its successor was built in Wall 
Street in 1700. The sloop's boat was lowered 



IS CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and into it stepped a portly man in the garb of 
a clergyman who carefully assisted to descend 
as strange a figure as ever entered New York. A 
man of thirty-six years of age but seemingly of 
twice as many years. A bronzed, dark bearded 
face, lined and drawn with suffering, but in the 
eyes and expression "that peace which the world 
knows not of." Of the forefingers and left 
thumb of his hands only the jagged red stumps 
remain. Every finger shows a partially healed 
wound and from all, the nails are gone. After 
the mutilated man is seated in the stern, three or 
four men, stout burgesses from Rensselaers- 
wyck, follow into the boat which is rowed rapidly 
towards the only wharf in New Amsterdam, near 
what is now the foot of Moore Street. A little 
group of soldiers and civilians has been attracted 
to the dock by sight of the boat and its passen- 
gers and ready hands assist the voyagers ashore. 
Many and hearty are the greetings showered on 
Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, of Rens- 
selaerswyck, recently sent out by the Classis of 
old Alkmaer to minister to the brethren beyond 
the seas. 

A strange pair they make, the portly minister 
in his clerical black, and, leaning on his arm, 
the bent broken figure in rags, partly Indian, 
partly European, that barely covers him. The 
sight brings the good wives and the children 
to the doors of the houses, but there is something 
about the wan face and the maimed hands of the 
visitor that stills the vociferous welcomes that 
greet the Dominie. At the sally-port of the fort 
the stolid sentry presented his arquebuse as the 
visitors entered and passed up the broad grass- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 19 

bordered walk to the new, high gabled, brick 
house of His Excellency, the Director General, 
or Governor, Willem Kieft. 

The visitors passed into the hall, twenty- 
feet in width, with its great brick double-faced 
chimney and white sanded floor, and are in the 
presence of the redoubtable Governor, " William 
the Testy." A short man with a round red face 
and little sharp gray eyes that seemed to pierce 
him at whom they looked. To the Governor, 
Dominie Megapolensis presented the strange 
visitor as Father Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit priest of 
New France, who had been captured and cruelly 
tortured by the Mohawk Indians, ransomed by 
the good burgesses of Rensselaerswyck and had, 
at the Governor's command, been escorted by 
the minister and burgesses to New Amsterdam 
there to await the sailing of a ship for France. 

The priest was kindly welcomed by the Gover- 
nor and was afterwards ushered into a spotlessly 
clean bedroom, the first he had been in for so 
long a time, and was provided with an entire out- 
fit of clothing to replace the filthy, ragged, semi- 
savage garb he wore. At dinner the Governor 
seated him beside Dominie Bogardus, the pugna- 
cious cleric of New Amsterdam, and he was in- 
deed the hero of the hour. That evening, when 
the candles had been lighted, the Governor, his 
clerical guests and the Eight Men, as the colonial 
representatives were called, were seated in the big 
dining room enjoying their tobacco, Kieft asked 
the Jesuit to tell them the story of his career. 

One would scarcely believe that Father Jogues, 
who had faced danger fearlessly on many occa- 
sions, would display timidity and a lack of self 



20 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

confidence when asked to narrate his experiences. 
But his courage failed him, and, for a moment, 
he was overwhelmed with confusion. When he 
had recovered himself he told, with modest sim- 
plicity, his relation: 

In the old historic city of Orleans, France, 
Isaac Jogues was born January 10th, 1607. At 
ten years of age he entered a Jesuit college and 
at seventeen began his novitiate. He was or- 
dained in 1636 and though intended for the 
African mission was ordered to New France. 
In company with Fathers Chastelain and Garnier 
he sailed from La Rochelle. After a long 
and dreary voyage the shores of the island of 
Anticosti were sighted and left behind and 
the ship plowed and plunged through the ocean- 
like waters of the Bay of St. Lawrence with its 
distant shores crowned with misty mountains. 
The ship's anchors were dropped off the little 
fishing and fur-trading station of Tadoussac, at 
the mouth of the Saguenay River, and the travel- 
worn missionaries marveled at the wild grandeur 
of the great barren mountains that closed it in. 
Here they caught their first sight of the red men 
in the lodges of a band of Montagnais Indians. 
Up the great St. Lawrence they sailed, on one 
bank the eye ranging over a vast barrier of 
wooded mountains, on the other viewing frown- 
ing ramparts of walls, peaks and domes of 
granite. It was a world of the completest 
solitude. Passing Cape Tourmente, the Isle of 
Orleans and the wonderful falls of Montmor- 
ency, they saw a mighty promontory of rock that 
thrust its front into the river and on its summit, 
three hundred and fifty feet above, they beheld 



IN OLD NEW YORK 21 

a fortification from which floated the royal 
banner of France. This was Quebec. Beneath 
the cliffs nestled on the river bank a cluster of 
warehouses, sheds and frame dwellings and a 
zigzag path led from the river to the summit of 
the rock. 

Father Paul Le Jeune, superior of the resi- 
dence at Quebec, greeted the voyagers and es- 
corted them to the crest of the mount. They 
were warmly welcomed by the officers and soldiers 
of the garrison, the factor of the fur company, 
the fur traders and a band of friendly Indians. 
On their left was the fort, with its ramparts of 
logs and earth, inclosing a turreted building of 
stone that was occupied as a barracks, officers' 
quarters and government offices. Near the fort 
was the recently completed chapel. The land 
around was cleared and cultivated, but at that 
day Quebec boasted but one dwelling house 
worthy of the name. 

Leaving the settlement the Jesuits entered the 
forest, reached the banks of the St. Charles River 
and were ferried across in a canoe. In a meadow 
two hundred yards from the river was a square 
palisaded inclosure similar to a modern fort or 
post in the Indian country. Within were two 
buildings, one, which was the storehouse, stable, 
workshop and bakery, had been partially burned 
by the English, in an attack on Quebec, and never 
repaired. The other of mud-plastered planks, 
thatched with meadow grass, contained the 
chapel, refectory, kitchen and dormitory of the 
workmen employed about the place. Nothing 
could be plainer or more primitive than the furni- 
ture of the chapel and house. To complete the 



22 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

discomfort of the mission house the roof leaked 
hke a sieve. Such was the residence of the Mis- 
sion of our Lady of the Angels. 

When Father Jogues and his companions 
arrived, Father Le Jeune was the only priest at 
the residence. Fathers Daniel, Davost, De 
Noue and Brebeuf having left for the far off 
Huron mission. There were no idle moments at 
the residence. The priests said mass and ves- 
pers, preached, heard confessions at the fort, in- 
structed the Indians, and sought to master, by 
the crudest methods, the Huron and Algonquin 
Indian tongues. For recreation they labored 
among the men with spade and hoe in the fields 
of rye, barley, wheat and maize. At the time of 
Father Jogues' arrival in Canada, Father Le 
Jeune had been on the mission three years. 
With the aid of a renegade Indian he had suc- 
ceeded in preparing, with the greatest difficulty, 
a dictionary of the Algonquin Indian language, 
and had gathered a little school of Indian chil- 
dren to whom he taught the sign of the cross, the 
Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and Creed. After 
the arrival of the other priests he made short mis- 
sionary trips among the Algonquins and his com- 
panions, after the greatest trials and difficulties, 
reached Ihonatiria on the shores of the Georgian 
Bay of Lake Huron and there established a mis- 
sion. Father Jogues was soon ordered by his 
superior to join the Huron mission nine hundred 
miles distant in the wildness. 

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the 
vast region, extending from the Atlantic Ocean 
to the Mississippi River and from Hudson's Bay 
to the CaroHnas, was divided between two great 



IN OLD NEW YORK 23 

families of tribes. The greater part of the terri- 
tory was held by the Algonquins and in their 
midst, through Central New York dwelt the 
Iroquois, or Five Nations, consisting of the Mo- 
hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Sene- 
cas. South of the Iroquois were the Andastes 
and Susquehannas ; along the southern shore of 
Lake Erie the Eries; along the northern shore 
the Neutral Nation; on the shores of Lake 
Huron the Hurons, and south of that Lake the 
Tobacco Nation. At the time Father Jogues 
started on his journey the Hurons had conquered 
and demoralized the Algonquins, and the 
Iroquois, the bravest, most intelligent, best 
organized and most inhumanly ferocious of all 
Indian nations, were slowly but surely conquer- 
ing the Hurons. Champlain, years before, had 
committed the grave error of assisting the 
Hurons with arms against the Iroquois and in 
retaliation, with but brief intervals of peace, the 
Five Nations were the deadly scourge of the 
French. The route to be followed by Father 
Jogues was by way of the St. Lawrence River, 
the Ottawa River and Lake Nipissing to Lake 
Huron. To avoid the Iroquois the Hurons used 
this route on their annual trading journeys to 
Quebec, and notwithstanding this precaution 
these expeditions were frequently attacked by 
the wily and ferocious Iroquois. 

One morning in July the Quebec basin was 
thickly dotted with the canoe fleet of the Hurons, 
numbering about two hundred craft, and nearly 
eight hundred Indians landed for trade at the 
warehouse in the lower town. Their faces and 
bodies, glistening with paint and sunflower oil, 



24 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

were a curious sight to the eyes of the Europeans. 
The day of their arrival was spent in erecting 
their huts and tepees, the second day a solemn 
council was held with the French officers, the 
third and fourth days they traded their furs, and 
tobacco for kettles, hatchets, knives, cloth, beads, 
ironware and clothing, and on the fifth day they 
were feasted by the Governor. Just as the rising 
sun crimsoned the waters of the great river, next 
morning, Fathers Jogues, Chastelain and Gar- 
nier, barefooted, in order not to injure their frail 
vessels, were crouched in the bottom of birch-bark 
canoes endeavoring, with unpracticed hands to 
assist their Indian companions, to propel the craft 
with a paddle. 

Governor Montmagny, Father Le Jeune and 
most of the garrison and inhabitants of Quebec 
were on the river bank to wish them God speed, 
and the cannon of the fort thundered a salute 
that echoed and reechoed among the hills. It 
was a journey of nine hundred miles through a 
savage-infested wilderness with Indian com- 
panions, sullen and terrified because of the prox- 
imity of the dreaded Iroquois. Their only food 
was sagamite — Indian corn crushed between 
stones and mixed with water — a dish that Father 
Chaumonot likens to the paste used by paper 
hangers. The toil of the voyage was extreme. 
There were thirty-five portages where the canoes 
and their cargoes had to be lifted from the water 
and carried around rapids and cataracts. Fifty 
times they were compelled to go barefooted into 
the rocky stream to push or haul the canoes 
through shallow places. They read their office at 
night, after the day's labor, by the light of the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 25 

moon or the flickering campfire. In the wilder- 
ness they meet Fathers Daniel and Davost re- 
turning to Quebec to establish a seminary for 
Indian children. 

The returning missionaries were in a pitiful 
plight, terribly emaciated, barefooted, clad only 
in tattered shirts and cassocks, their breviaries 
hanging from their necks by strips of hide. 
They were, however, full of joy and happiness 
but deeply regretted leaving the mission station 
despite its terrible privations and trials. One 
month after their departure from Quebec Father 
Jogues and his companions stepped from their 
canoes into the Huron village of Ihonitiria on 
the banks of Georgian Bay. They beheld a 
great Indian settlement and in a conspicuous 
location the Mission house of St. Joseph with a 
high red cross reared before its entrance. The 
Mission house was similar in construction to all 
the houses in the Huron and Iroquois country. 
Its dimensions were thirty-six feet long by about 
twenty feet wide, framed with sapling poles, the 
tops of the poles on both sides bent into an arch 
to form the roof. These poles were braced with 
crosspoles and the whole closely covered with 
overlapping sheets of bark. The Indian houses 
were sometimes one hundred and fifty feet long 
and without partitions. Six or more families, 
with all their belongings, dwelt in a house, and 
each family had its own fire along the center. 
When we reflect that from fifty to a hundred 
human beings, and unnumbered dogs, lived in 
these hovels and that the only ventilation was 
through the bark curtained door and a slit in the 
roof, we may gain some idea of the discomfort 



26 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of such a domicile. The eyes were in a constant 
state of inflammation from the smoke, the stom- 
ach was sickened by the commingled odors, and 
the body was stung beyond endurance by the 
myriads of fleas with which the abodes swarmed. 
In summer the houses were intolerable from heat, 
in winter the face was blistered by the heat from 
the fires, while the back was frozen. Add to all 
this the abominable customs, rites and manner of 
life of the red men and we may obtain some faint 
idea of the awful penances and sacrifices of the 
pure, refined, cultured, gentle born priests who 
left the most highly civilized country in Europe 
to carry Christ to these barbarians. Truly they 
sacrificed all that men can sacrifice " for the 
greater glory of God." 

Shortly after the arrival of Father Jogues at 
the Mission he and four others of the community 
were attacked by a contagious fever, and they 
had scarcely regained their strength when small- 
pox broke out and ravaged the nation. In the 
depth of the frigid Northern winter the 
Jesuits traveled from village to village, minis- 
tering to the sick and striving to win them to 
the Faith. Their success was not encouraging. 

" Do they hunt in heaven, or make war, or go 
to feasts?" asked one sufferer. 

" Oh, no," replied the priest. 

" Then," said the Indian, " I won't go. It is 
not good to be lazy." 

Many children, in danger of death, were 
baptized, but, after a time, the parents objected 
to the baptism of the little ones. The greatest 
enemies of the Jesuits were the hideously painted 
and garbed sorcerers or medicine men whom the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 27 

priests say were emissaries of Satan. They had 
great influence over the people to which their in- 
decent rites and ceremonies contributed, and to 
win them from their paganism seemed a hopeless 
task. The early affection for the missionaries 
turned to fear and hatred, they were looked upon 
as mighty magicians, and their lives were in con- 
stant peril. Despite the menacing attitude of the 
savages the Mission of the Immaculate Con- 
ception was established at Ossossane, but two 
years later both missions were abandoned and a 
great central station called St. Marie was opened 
on the shores of Matchedash Bay. In the early 
winter of 1639, Fathers Jogues and Garnier 
went on a mission to the far-off Tobacco Nation. 
The forests were full of snow and in the thickly 
falling flakes they lost their way and were com- 
pelled to pass the first night in a spruce swamp, 
sleeping on the ground, on evergreen boughs. 
The storm ceased, and " Praised be God," said 
one of the priests, " we passed a good night." 

They visited every village in the nation and 
were rebuffed and driven from each. When they 
departed they were followed by a band of In- 
dians, with intent to kill them, but they escaped 
among the mountains in the darkness. Two 
years later Fathers Jogues and Raymbault pene- 
trated as far west as the Sault Sainte Marie, in 
the present State of Michigan, and preached 
Christ to two thousand O jib way or Chippeway 
Indians. 

Father Jogues on his return was ordered to 
Quebec, to obtain altar supplies, clothing and 
writing materials for the Mission and trinkets 
for the Indians. The lower regions of New 



28 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

France swarmed with wandering bands of 
Iroquois and the passage of the St. Lawrence 
River was extremely perilous. Father Jogues 
reached Quebec safely and six weeks later 
started on the return voyage with a flotilla of 
twelve canoes filled with Huron braves, a few 
Huron converts and Rene Goupil and William 
Couture, two laymen of the Mission who had de- 
voted their lives to the work. 

On the second day out while among the 
Islands of Lake St. Peter, the boats hugging 
the wooded shore to avoid the current, the voy- 
agers were appalled at hearing the Iroquois war 
whoop, the most terrifying of human sounds. 
This was followed by a volley of shot from the 
shore and the appearance from the opposite bank 
of a number of Iroquois war canoes crowded with 
savages. The Hurons were panic stricken, and 
leaping ashore disappeared in the forest. Father 
Jogues, with a few converts made a stand for 
awhile, but was overpowered. The priest hastily 
baptized the Indians who had been under 
instructions. He was urged to fly but refused. 
William Couture had escaped but unwilling to 
desert Father Jogues returned, and, in his ex- 
citement, killed, with his gun, a great Chief. 
He was set upon, his clothing torn off, his 
finger nails pulled out and his fingers gnawed 
by the savages. Breaking away from his cap- 
tors Father Jogues threw his arms around 
Couture's neck to protect him but the savages 
dragged the men apart, stripped the priest, and 
beat him with their clubs until he fell senseless, 
covered with blood. With diabolical cruelty they 
waited until he had revived then tore away his 



IN OLD NEW YORK 29 

finger nails with their teeth and mangled his 
fingers. 

More awful than any bodily suffering must 
have been the poor priest's mental torments at 
this fiendish mutilation of his priestly hands. It 
deprived him of his greatest happiness on earth, 
for the hands that touch the Sacred Body of 
Christ must be without blemish. Rene Goupil 
was subjected to the same tortures as his com- 
panions. The twenty-three captives were drag- 
ged away on a four weeks' journey to the 
country of the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois, 
which lay southward. Burned by the sun and 
fever, tortured with their wounds and by swarms 
of mosquitoes, they suffered torments. Meeting 
an Iroquois war party on an island in Lake 
Champlain they were compelled to run the 
gauntlet up a rocky hill and were beaten with 
war clubs and thorny sticks. Father Jogues, 
drenched with blood, fell, half dead. His hands 
were again mangled and fire was applied to his 
body. At night the young warriors lacerated 
his wounds and pulled out his hair and beard. 

The party descended Lake George in canoes, 
and, landing near the future site of Fort William 
Henry, the prisoners, despite their pitiable con- 
dition, were forced to carry heavy loads of 
plunder. The upper Hudson was crossed, Lake 
Saratoga passed and they arrived at a palisaded 
Mohawk town. The entire population turned 
out to meet them and again the poor captives 
were compelled to run the gauntlet or " narrow 
road of Paradise " as Father Jogues called it. 
In the village they were placed on a high scaffold 
and a Christian Huron captive woman was com- 



30 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

pelled to cut off Father Jogues' left thumb. 
Her horror and agitation caused her to tremble 
and hesitate thus increasing his agony a hundred 
fold. 

After suffering tortures all day the captives 
at night were stretched on their back and their 
ankles and wrists were tied to stakes. The 
children amused themselves by placing live coals 
and red hot ashes on their naked bodies which 
they were unable to shake off. At three 
villages these tortures were repeated and at one 
of them Father Jogues was hung by the wrists 
for fifteen minutes between two poles in such 
manner that his toes could not touch the floor. 

He never forgot his mission during these 
journeyings and tortures. He exhorted his 
companions to be of good faith and baptised a 
number of Huron captives, using, on one oc- 
casion, a few raindrops clinging to the husk of 
an ear of corn given to him for food. William 
Couture, by his bravery, won the admiration of 
his captors, was adopted into one of their 
families and was thenceforth safe from harm, but 
Father Jogues and Rene Goupil daily expected 
death. Three of the Hurons captured with them 
were burned to death at the stake. 

The good priest lost no opportunity of bap- 
tizing dying infants, and Rene Goupil taught 
the children to make the sign of the cross. 
These acts aroused the superstitious terrors of 
the old Indian in whose lodge they lived and he 
incited two braves to murder. One day as 
Father Jogues and Rene Goupil were walking 
towards the village, reciting the rosary, the 
Indians came upon them and one of them buried 



IN OLD NEW YORK 31 

his tomahawk in Goupil's brain. He fell mur- 
muring the name of Christ and Father Jogues 
dropped on his knees to await the fatal blow. He 
was commanded to rise and go home, which he did, 
after giving absolution to his dying companion. 

Next morning, reckless of life, he searched for 
Rene Goupil's body and found it in a torrent, 
stripped, and mangled by dogs. He secured it 
intending to return and give it Christian burial, 
but in the night it was stolen by the Indians and 
when he sought it later it could not be found, al- 
though he waded for hours in the icy waters and 
tramped long in the forests. Then this poor 
mutilated and emaciated being, clad in his squalid 
raiment of tattered and cast-off skins, " crouched 
by the pitiless stream, mingled his tears with its 
waters and, in a voice broken with groans, 
chanted the service of the dead." 

In the early winter he was carried off on the 
annual deer hunt, during which all the game 
taken was devoted to the Indian's god Areskoui. 
The priest would not eat the meat offered to a 
demon and starved in the midst of plenty. He 
was the veriest slave and drudge of his inhuman 
masters, he gathered their firewood, did their 
bidding uncomplainingly and bore their cruelty 
without a murmur, but when they mocked at 
God or ridiculed his devotions the miserable 
broken object of their contempt became the 
priest of the Ever Living God and uplifted by 
the dignity of his priesthood sternly rebuked 
them. When he could escape from " Babylon " 
as he called the Indian lodge and village he 
wandered in the forest telling his beads and 
repeating what memory still retained of his office. 



32 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

He carved in the bark of trees the sacred symbol 
of redemption and the Holy Name of Jesus, and 
there prayed. 

In July, 1643, a band of Indians took him on 
a trading trip to Fort Orange, Rensselaerswyck. 
At that day, the future capital city of the great 
Empire state consisted of a dilapidated log fort 
or stockade surrounded by twenty-five or thirty 
little houses. Its one hundred inhabitants were 
tenants of Van Rensselaer, the patroon or lord 
of the Manor. Tidings of the capture of Father 
Jogues had reached France and the Queen 
Regent had asked the States- General for assist- 
ance in rescuing him from the savages. Orders 
had been issued to all the commandants in New 
Netherland to deliver Father Jogues if possible. 
Word of the priestly captive had come to 
Rensselaerswyck, and Arendt Van Corlaer, John 
Labadie and another had offered to ransom 
him, but the Indians would not consider the offer. 
When Father Jogues was taken to Rensselaers- 
wyck a small Dutch trading sloop was lying 
in the Hudson ready to sail for New Amster- 
dam, and in the hold of this vessel he was hidden. 
Arendt Van Corlear offered the missionary a 
free passage and urged him to accept. Dominie 
Johannes Megapolensis added his appeals to Van 
Corlaer's. Father Jogues suffered agonies of 
mind, full of anxiety lest his love of life and self 
should beguile him to seek safety in flight while 
a chance remained to save one heathen soul 
through baptism. On the other hand he realized 
that to remain was suicidal. When his escape 
was discovered the Indians were infuriated and 
threatened to destroy the settlement. Father 



IN OLD NEW YORK 33 

Jogues urged the authorities to surrender him, 
saying, "If this trouble has been caused by me, I 
am ready to appease it at the loss of my life. I 
never wished to escape to the injury of the least 
man in the Colony." A storm instantly broke out 
among the brave, faithful Dutch sailors. Their 
word had been pledged to save the priest if his 
foot touched their deck, and cost what it might 
they would keep their word. Father Jogues 
would not hear of escaping until the trouble with 
the savages had been settled. He was taken 
ashore and hidden in a miserable garret, and for 
six weeks the negotiations between the Dutch and 
Indians for his ransom were carried on. Presents 
of the value of one hundred dollars in gold 
were finally accepted by the red men. Dominie 
Megapolensis became indeed the Good Samari- 
tan. He and some of the principal inhabitants 
insisted on escorting the priest down the river, 
and their six days' journey was a grand jubila- 
tion. The minister showed constant kindness to 
him. " Especially," relates Father Jogues, " did 
he insist, when we came to an island to which he 
wished to give my name. Amid the noise of the 
cannon and bottles each showed his esteem after 
his own fashion." Owing to Indian wars, 
both on the mainland and Long Island shores, 
wilfully provoked by the Dutch, New Amster- 
dam was full of refugees crowded around the 
ramshackle fort and Father Jogues' arrival, and 
the fact that he was one of the, to their Calvinistic 
minds, mysterious Jesuits, together with the 
story of his sufiPerings, drew nearly the entire 
population to the fort to see him. As he was 
leaving the fort one day a young man, employed 



34 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

by a merchant of the town, ran to him, fell on his 
knees, seized the mutilated hands, kissed them 
and with tears streaming" from his eyes, cried, 
"Martyr of Jesus Christ! Martyr of Jesus 
Christ!" The humble priest, confused and em- 
barrassed by the demonstration, embraced him 
affectionately and, inquiring if he was a Calvinist, 
was told that he was a Polish Lutheran. Passing 
a house near the fort he glanced in at the open 
door and w^as astonished to see on the chimney- 
breast pictures of the Blessed Virgin and St. 
Aloysius Gonzaga. He learned on inquiring, 
that the mistress of the house was the Portuguese 
Catholic wife of an ensign of the garrison, but 
unfortunately she knew no language with which 
Father Jogues was familiar. 

It was a great joy to his heart, one day, to 
have a young Irishman, just landed from a 
INIaryland ship, come to him in the fort and ask 
permission to approach the tribunal of penance. 
After hearing his confession he questioned the 
young sailor about the progress of the Faith 
in Lord Baltimore's colony and heard the 
glorious story of the triumphs of the Jesuit 
Fathers, Andrew White and John Altham, 
among the red men on the shores of the 
Chesapeake. The zealous priest learned one 
secret that saddened his heart. Megapolensis 
told him that years before he had abandoned the 
Catholic faith. Father Jogues labored to wdn 
him back but could make no impression on him. 
Bidding the tolerant, kind-hearted Dutchmen of 
New Amsterdam farewell, and armed with a 
letter of recommendation from Director-Gen- 
eral Kieft he sailed, November 5th, in a Httle 



IN OLD NEW YORK 35 

vessel of fifty tons, for Europe. As the crumb- 
ling old fort, with its windmill and flagstaff, and 
the shabby little huts grew dim and were finally 
blotted out as the vessel dropped down the bay, 
a solitary figure stood in the ship's stern, with 
mutilated priestly hands uplifted in benediction 
on that community that had been so charitable 
and merciful to him. God heard Father Jogues' 
prayer and made this great city what it is — one 
of the most Catholic cities in the universe and the 
haven of the oppressed of every clime. 

After suffering further hardships and ill- 
treatment the good priest reached France, and his 
name was upon every lip. He was bidden to the 
royal palace of Fontainebleau where the Queen 
Mother, Anne of Austria, kissed his mutilated 
hands, but infinitely above all earthly honors he 
prized and hailed with deepest joy the special 
dispensation, sent him by the Sovereign Pontifl*, 
to say Mass notwithstanding the mutilation of 
his hands. " It would be unjust," said the Pope, 
" that a martyr of Christ should not drink the 
blood of Christ." 

The heart and soul of " Ondessonk," the name 
given Father Jogues by the Indians, was in the 
American wilderness, and in the early spring he 
sailed for Quebec. He remained for two years 
in Montreal and was sent to the Mohawk 
country to negotiate a treaty of peace with that 
nation, and to establish the Mission of the 
Martyrs. He travelled over the scenes of his 
torture and on the eve of Corpus Christi reached 
the foot of Lake George, which he named the 
Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. He stopped 
at Fort Orange to express his gratitude to 



36 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

his Dutch friends and then began his mission- 
ary work. In July, 1646, after a visit to 
Montreal, he returned to his dangerous post 
with a companion, John Lalande. They were 
seized, carried to the town of Ossernenon and 
tortured. On the evening of October 18th, as 
Father Jogues was entering a lodge, a hatchet 
was buried in his brain. John Lalande was 
killed the next day. Their heads were displayed 
on the palisades of the town and their bodies 
thrown into the JNIohawk River. 

At the place of their martyrdom near the 
village of Auriesville, Montgomery County, 
New York, the Society of Jesus has acquired 
considerable land and has built a beautiful 
shrine and erected the stations of the Cross. 
Every summer great numbers of the faithful 
make pilgrimages to the hallowed spot. The 
third Plenary Council of Baltimore, 1884, 
formally petitioned the Pope that the cause of 
canonization of Father Jogues might be intro- 
duced. 




FATHER ISAAC JOGUES, S.J. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 37 



CHAPTER III 

IN WHICH AN ENGLISH EARL PALATINE COMES TO 
NEW AMSTERDAM AND WITH HIS AMAZING 
CLAIM KINDLES THE WRATH OF WILLIAM THE 
'' TESTY '' 

One day in the autumn of 1643, the flag that 
was always raised on the flagstaff of Fort Am- 
sterdam when an incoming vessel was sighted, 
told the people in the little settlement that a ship 
was coming up the bay. The arrival proved to be 
from the Virginias. A party was landed at the 
wharf and sought accommodation in the stone 
tavern, and next day His Excellency, Governor 
Kieft, granted an audience to Sir Edmund 
Plowden, Lord Proprietor, Earl Palatine, 
Governor and Captain General of New Albion 
and the Isle of Plowden, or, as they are known 
to-day, the State of New Jersey, Long Island 
and all other islands within ten leagues of that 
region. The Dutch archives are silent concern- 
ing that interview, but when the irascible 
Governor William Kieft was told that the Isle 
of Plowden was Long Island, and that his 
visitor claimed it and Manhattan Island as his 
own, by virtue of a certain charter granted by 
King Charles I of England under the great seal 
of Ireland, there was a more violent explosion 
than could have been produced by all the powder 



38 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

in the fort's magazine, but although Sir Ed- 
mund's conversation was " as sweet and winning, 
as grave and sober " as was ever English 
gentlemen's, he was not at all disturbed by the 
Governor's bombastic bellowings, but protested 
firmly against the annoyances and the violence 
to which the Dutch soldiers and settlers on the 
Delaware subjected the people of his palatinate. 
He was particularly bitter in his complaints 
against Governor John Peintz of the Swedish 
settlements on the Delaware River because of 
the wrongs inflicted on his colonists. 

Like many another Catholic and non- Catholic, 
driven from his own country by religious perse- 
cution, Sir Edmund had found an asylum in 
Holland, and the gratitude he felt for that 
shelter in time of need would not permit him to 
quarrel with the Dutch. He purchased a half 
interest in a New Amsterdam ship, loaded it 
with supplies for his settlements, and after a 
short stay in the Dutch town sailed away for 
New Albion. He is said to have visited New 
Amsterdam again during the administration of 
Governor Stuyvesant. 

Robert Evelin, of Wooten, Surrey, England, 
who was connected with Sir Edmund Plowden 
in his colonial ventures, explored the coast from 
Cape May to Manhattan in 1634 and probably 
landed at New Amsterdam. 

Sir Edmund was considerable of a castle 
builder, and had little idea of the rough and 
ready life of a colonist in a new country, or of 
the necessities of government in a colony hewn 
out of the primeval forest. He spent about 
eight years getting ready his plans. An Earl 



IN OLD NEW YORK 39 

Palatine possessed truly regal powers under the 
king, and Sir Edmund intended to exercise them. 
He divided his possessions into Manors and ap- 
pointed his eldest son and heir, Baron of Mount 
Roy all and Governor, his younger son Baron of 
Roymont, High Admiral, and his three daugh- 
ters Baronesses. 

There were twenty-three Indian chiefs within 
the bounds of New Albion, and he instituted an 
order of chivalry under the title: " The Albion 
Knights for the conversion of the twenty-three 
Kings of Charles (Delaware) River," and the 
Viscounts, Barons, Baronets, Knights, Gentle- 
men, Merchants, adventurers and planters of the 
Company of New Albion, forty-four in number, 
were invested with the gorgeous insignia of the 
order. These forty-four members of the 
company were pledged to settle three thousand 
able-bodied men in New Albion, but not more 
than five hundred ever came. Several books or 
pamphlets lauding the new land were issued. In 
1634 Plowden gave Sir Thomas Danby a lease 
of ten thousand acres of land on Long Island 
and near the present site of Salem, New Jersey, 
with privileges for a " Town and Manor of 
Danby Fort," provided he would settle one 
hundred planters in the province, not suffering 
anyone to live therein who did not believe in or 
profess the three Christian creeds — the Apostle's, 
Athanasian and Nicene. All Christians were to 
be welcomed to New Albion, and those who railed 
and condemned others because of their religious 
belief were to be severely punished. 

The same year Captain Thomas Yong, of 
Yorkshire, and his nephew, Robert Evelin, of 



40 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Surrey, mIio has been mentioned as visiting New 
Amsterdam, voyaged to America and sailed up 
Delaware Bay and River as far as the present 
Trenton Falls. Some Indians told them about a 
great inland sea four days' journey beyond the 
mountains. They hoped to find an outlet from 
this sea into the Pacific Ocean that would give 
them a short passage to China. Disappointed in 
this they sailed down the river and on its banks 
built a trading station or fort at " Eriwomeck." 
Plowden sailed for his domain and arrived 
early in 1642. He visited his Manor of Wat- 
cessit, near the present site of Salem, and there 
had one of his officers administer the oath of 
obedience to him as Governor, to the officers 
of an English settlement of seventy persons who 
had come from New Haven Colony. He had 
completed arrangements with his associates in 
England to send out shiploads of settlers and 
supplies and these were to touch the coast at 
what is now Hampton Roads, therefore he 
spent much of his time cruising between Watces- 
sit, Accomack and Kecoughtan, Virginia, on 
the lookout for his ships. On one of these 
voyages a mutiny broke out and the Captain of 
the bark, who may have been one of the pirates, 
so numerous in those days, conspired with the 
crew to kill Plowden. They concluded not to 
slay him but to put him ashore on an uninhabited 
island infested with bears and wolves. As the 
bark sailed away, after landing the Knight, two 
young retainers, who knew nothing of the plot, 
leaped overboard and swam ashore. For four 
days the three men were without food or shelter. 
A passing sloop saw their distress signals and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 41 

took them to Accomack. Sir Edmund was 
nearly dead from exposure and hunger. The 
mutineers put in at Fort Elfsborg, in the 
Swedish Delaware possessions, and were arrested. 
The prisoners, bark and cargo were handed over 
to Plowden after he had paid a heavy bill of 
expenses to the Swedish Governor, John Peintz, 
and the traitorous Captain was put to death. 

The colony was doomed to failure. Very few 
ships with settlers arrived, and those that did were 
refused entrance to the Delaware by Peintz and 
the Dutch commander. The struggling little 
settlements that had been started were con- 
tinually harassed by the Swedes and Dutch. 
Poor Plowden went to Boston in 1648 and 
told Governor John Winthrop that he had lost 
the estate he brought over and that all his 
people had scattered. His intention was to sail 
to England for settlers and supplies and to 
return, provided he could obtain sufficient force 
to drive out the Swedes. 

After a stay of seven years in the new world 
he went home, but the outbreak of civil war in 
England thwarted his hopes of success with his 
colony. It is likely that many of his Catholic 
colonists sought asjdum in the colony of Mary- 
land. There were Catholic Plowdens in that 
state at a recent date. Sir Edmund died at 
Wanstead, England, in 1659. 



42 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER IV 

NEW AMSTERDAM AGAIN BECOMES A HAVEN OF 
REFUGE FOR A JESUIT MISSIONARY TO THE 
IRIQUOIS 

A YEAR after Father Jogues' departure for 
Europe a sloop sailed down the Hudson and on 
its deck was another battered and mutilated 
victim of Indian ferocity, the Jesuit Father, 
Francis Joseph Bressani. He was born in 
Rome, Italy, and at the age of fifteen entered the 
Jesuit novitiate. He spent many years as pro- 
fessor of literature, philosophy and mathematics 
and finally asked to be sent on the Canadian 
mission. After laboring for two years among 
the Algonquins he was ordered to the Huron 
mission, and in company with a Frenchman and 
four Indians started on his long journey with 
a flotilla of Huron canoes. While on Lake St. 
Peter, the same lake on which Father Jogues 
was captured, the canoes ran into a Mohawk 
ambuscade and Father Bressani was taken 
prisoner. Led to a fishing camp on the banks 
of the upper Hudson he was compelled to run 
the gauntlet. His hand was split open between 
the fingers, several of his fingers were cut off, 
and his hands and feet were burned twenty-six 
times. Bruised, bleeding and famished with 
hunger, he was hurried to the first town on the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 43 

Mohawk River. Again cruelly tortured, his left 
hand was split open, his feet torn and mangled; 
he was hung up by the feet, then tied on the 
ground, food was placed on his body and hungry 
dogs set upon it until they had torn him with 
their teeth. His wounds, receiving no attention, 
' began to fill with corruption and worms, and he 
became an object of disgust even to the savages. 
" I could not have believed," wrote Father 
Bressani to his Superior, " that a man was so 
hard to kill." His frequent thought while under 
the torture was, " What must Purgatory be?" A 
council was held to decide his fate and, greatly to 
his surprise, his life was spared and he was given 
to an old Indian woman to take the place of a dead 
relative. Because of his frightful condition the 
old squaw did not want him and sent him to Fort 
Orange to be sold to the Dutch. They ransomed 
him for a large sum and with true Christian kind- 
ness nursed him back to health and strength, 
provided him with clothing, " of which he stood 
in much need," and sent him to Governor Kieft 
at New Amsterdam. The Governor received him 
as kindly and hospitably as he had Father 
Jogues, and before he sailed for La Rochelle, 
France, gave him a letter of safe-conduct in 
which he wrote: "Christian charity requires that 
he be humanely treated by those into whose hands 
he may happen to fall. Wherefore we request all 
Governors, viceroys or their lieutenants and 
captains that they would afford him their favor 
in going and returning, promising to do the 
same on like occasion." 

When Father Bressani reached Rome, Pope 
Innocent X received him as an apostle and 



44 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

kissed his wounds. Undeterred by his sufferings 
he returned to Canada a year later and journeyed 
again to the Huron country. After passing three 
years, among that tribe, he started for Quebec 
with a party of Hurons, which on the journey 
was attacked by the JNIohawks. The Mohawks 
were defeated with great slaughter. After a 
brief rest he journeyed again nine hundred miles 
into the wilderness, to find that the red terror had 
broken loose and that bloodshed and destruction 
were rife. Fathers Daniel, Brebeuf and Lale- 
mant had won martyrs' crowns. He hurried back 
to Quebec for aid, and a year passed before he 
could return. On his way he was attacked and 
wounded by the Iroquois, but, escaping capture, 
he met a party of Hurons, the sight of whom, 
and the tidings they bore, caused him greater 
pain and suffering than Iroquois tortures. They 
were the first party of Hurons driven from 
their country by the victorious Iroquois and were 
seeking safety under the guns of Quebec. They 
told the harrowing story of the massacre of 
priests and converts and the destruction of the 
mission stations. The work established and car- 
ried on at such cost of blood, sufferings, labor 
and treasure was wiped out. The Huron mis- 
sion was ended. Father Bressani returned to 
Italy and, after many years of missionary labor, 
died at Florence in 1672. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 45 



CHAPTER V 

FATHER SIMON LE MOYNE^S VISIT TO NEW AMSTER- 
DAM AND WHAT HE SAW THERE 

Governor Peter Stuyvesant came to New 
Amsterdam in May, 1647. On the voyage the 
fleet had taken a Spanish prize and carried its 
crew to the town on Manhattan Island as 
prisoners of war. Eight years later Dominie 
Megapolensis, writing to the Classis of Amster- 
dam, said: "For we have here Papists, Men- 
nonites and Lutherans among the Dutch." Thir- 
teen years after Father Bressani's visit to New 
Amsterdam another Catholic priest, the third 
of whom we have any record, stepped ashore 
on the wharf at the foot of the present Moore 
Street. He was the French Jesuit, Father 
Simon Le Moyne, who came from the North to 
minister to the few Catholics in New Amster- 
dam and some French sailors who had recently 
arrived in the port with a prize. There had been 
many changes in New Amsterdam since Father 
Bressani's visit. Governor Willem Kieft and 
Dominie Bogardus had sailed for Holland in the 
ship " Princess " in 1647. The ill-fated vessel 
was wrecked on the coast of Wales and Kieft, 
Bogardus and eighty-two others perished. The 
pulpit of the church in the fort was now occupied 
by Dominie Megapolensis, who had removed 



46 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

from Rensselaerswyck to New Amsterdam in 
1649. 

The maimed and pitiable condition of Fathers 
Jogues and Bressani had touched the heart of 
the Dominie and he had been to them a good 
Samaritan, but Father Le Moyne's coming was 
a different matter entirely. He was a hale, 
hearty, vigorous Jesuit priest, about fifty-three 
years of age, visiting the place to discharge the 
duties of his sacred office, so the Dominie pre- 
pared to give him battle, but not in a personally 
offensive way. 

Highly educated men were few in New Am- 
sterdam in those days, and the learned Dominie 
was so delighted at the arrival of a foeman 
worthy of his steel, that he first fell on Father Le 
Moyne's neck and then on his theology, but he 
quickly found that the learned Jesuit, while al- 
ways ready to chat with him, declined to be drawn 
into theological debate. 

During the eight days of his stay in New Am- 
sterdam Father Le Moyne visited every part of 
the little city, for New Amsterdam had been 
raised to the dignity of a city, and very proud 
and jealous were its burghers of their rights. 
The government of Director and Council had 
given way to the administration of a Schout, 
whose duties were a combination of Mayor, 
Sheriff and District Attorney, two Burgomas- 
ters and five Schepens, who acted as a Board of 
Aldermen and sat as a court of justice in civil 
and criminal actions. But Peter Stuyvesant was 
a masterful man, a regular " Czar of Moscovy " 
one of the officials called him, and he was con- 
tinually interfering in the management of the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 47 

city's affairs. This caused considerable friction 
and trouble. 

The first place visited by Father Le Moyne 
was Fort Amsterdam, little altered since Father 
Bressani passed through its sally-port, except 
that the slaves were at work preparing stone for 
a base wall around it to preserve its earthworks 
from the depredations of hogs and goats. In 
the Governor's house Father Le Moyne was pre- 
sented to the great Stuyvesant, a haughty, 
determined looking man, a little above the aver- 
age height but splendidly proportioned. He was 
of dark complexion, with shaven chin and a very 
slight mustache shading his lip. A wide shirt 
collar fell over his velvet coat with slashed 
sleeves. His very full hose were tied at the knee 
with a handsome scarf. He had lost a leg 
in an attack on the Portuguese island of St. 
Martin thirteen years before, and its wooden 
substitute was banded with silver, which gave rise 
to Stuyvesant's nickname " Silver Leg." Father 
Le Moyne was graciously welcomed by the 
Governor, who alive to every opportunity to ex- 
tend the colony's commerce, besought the priest 
to secure from Governor d'Aillebout, of New 
France, permission for Dutch vessels to visit the 
St. Lawrence River for trading purposes. 
Father Le Moyne promised to act as Stuyves- 
ant's emissary and, shortly after his return to 
Quebec, secured consent for New Netherland 
vessels to go to Quebec and trade on the same 
terms as French ships. 

In his walks about the city. Father Le Moyne 
learned that in the past year the first map of 
the city had been drawn, showing seventeen 



48 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

streets, and that the average price of lots 
was $50. There were one hundred and twenty 
houses sheltering one thousand people. At this 
time there were less than seventy houses and 
four hundred people in Quebec. As he walked 
down Winckel Straat or the shop street, now 
Whitehall Street, towards the Strand, Father 
Le Moyne remarked the number of farmers' 
wagons filled with country produce of all kinds, 
and the crowd clustered around them, and was 
told that the year before the corporation had 
passed an ordinance providing for holding mar- 
ket every Saturday on the Strand, around 
the house of Hans Kierstede. Passing into 
Perel Straat, now Pearl Street, he pursued 
his way until he reached a bridge at Bridge 
Street, crossing a stream that flowed into the 
East River. This stream, it was explained to 
him, was the drain or ditch for a tract of marshy 
ground. After a few dwellings had been built 
on its banks it was called the Heere-Graft or 
Great Canal. The priest stood on the bridge 
for a moment to watch three men at work driving 
heavy planks into the mud banks of the ditch. 
A few years later this work was finished and the 
Heere-Graft became one of the most popular 
thoroughfares in New Amsterdam, with its 
plank banked canal, its paved street on both sides 
of the stream and its little Dutch houses. The 
people loved it because it carried them back in 
memory to old Holland. It probably made 
them a trifle homesick. Canals in all cities, ex- 
cept possibly Dutch ones, become the receptacle 
for the city's refuse. The Heere-Graft, under 
English masters, proved no exception to this rule 



IN OLD NEW YORK 49 

and was filled in. You would scarcely recognize 
the Heere-Graft in the modern Broad Street. 
On the other side of the bridge Perel Straat be- 
came Hoogh Straat, and a short walk brought 
the priest to the Stadt-Huys or City Hall, which 
at the time of Father Jogues' visit was the 
Harburg or tavern. It was a stone building, 
fifty feet square, three stories high in the walls 
with two more stories in the high pitched roof. 
He entered the imposing court room and looked 
with interest on the arms of New Amsterdam 
painted in glowing colors on the window panes; 
on the arms of the city, painted in old Holland, 
hanging over the justice's cushioned bench, 
flanked with the orange, white and blue flag of 
the Dutch West India Company and the red, 
white and blue colors of the Netherlands. 

Leaving the court room he entered the school 
room, in the same building, and at a sign from 
Schoolmaster Harmanus Van Hoboken, who 
was also chorister and sexton of the church in the 
fort, the healthy looking, tow-headed youngsters 
arose, bowed and smiled at the visitor, who bowed 
and smiled back at them. Out into the air again 
where the waters of the East River, flashing 
in the sunlight, dazzled his eyes for a moment, 
he walked to the shore and saw the recently 
completed public improvement, the " Shoeinge," 
which consisted of heavy planking stuck on 
end into the mud at the water's edge and 
filled in behind with earth and rubbish to pro- 
tect the shore from the encroachments of the 
river during storms and high tides. It took 
three years' time and all kinds of threats and 
penalties to compel the property owners along 



50 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the river bank to do the planking, and when it 
was finished they all wondered why they had not 
done it long before. The Shoeinge extended 
from Broad to Wall Street. 

Continuing north along the Shoeinge Father 
Le Moyne came to T'Water Poort or Water 
Gate, a large gate in a wooden stockade that 
stretched across the island from river to river, a 
distance of 2,340 feet. Three years previous 
there was serious trouble between New England 
and New Netherland, and the New Netherlanders 
feared that the New Englanders would attack 
New Amsterdam from the land side, or north, so 
they decided to put up a palisade. Planks, 
twelve feet high, pointed at the tops, were driven 
three feet into the ground and every thirteen feet 
posts seven inches thick were driven, to which 
were nailed split rails to give the palisade stabil- 
ity. Behind it a breastwork of earth four feet 
high and three feet at the top was thrown up and 
a ditch two feet wide and two feet deep dug. 
When this work was finished and the Dutchmen 
mounted the breastwork and peeped out over the 
palisade, they felt that New Amsterdam was safe 
even if every Puritan and Indian in New Eng- 
land came to attack it. When Father Le 
Moyne looked north over the wall his eyes 
rested on a few farm houses in clearings and the 
green trees of the forest. The only sounds he 
heard were the voices and laughter of the women 
washing clothes in the stream that ran through 
a beautiful little valley known as " Maagte 
paetje," Maiden's Path, or, as we know its suc- 
cessor to-day, Maiden Lane. 

He continued his walk along the breastwork, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 51 

passing the few buildings or hovels, most of 
them occupied as tap houses or taverns, until he 
reached the Land Gate, across the Heere Straat, 
and stood on the corner of what is now Broadway 
and Wall Street. A road led north past the 
Common on which now stand the Post Office, 
City Hall and other public buildings, and then 
turned northeast, following the line of Park Row 
to the bouweries or farms, at what is now 
Chatham Square and beyond. Passing down 
Heere Straat on his right near the wall were the 
public orchard and garden. Next to them 
several substantial houses with large gardens 
extending to the North River, which in those 
days flowed to about the line of the present 
Church Street. The principal building, of 
stone, was the home of that bluff sea captain, 
Burgomaster Paulus Leedertsen Van der Grift. 
The ground rose south of Van der Grift's house, 
and on an eminence was the first burial ground, 
with a frontage of nearly two hundred feet on 
the street. Next came three or four small houses 
of unpretentious appearance. On the eastern 
side of the street were much poorer dwellings, 
many of them mere frame hovels, with roofs 
thatched with straw or rushes, and chimneys of 
wood, plastered with mortar; but every home, 
however humble, had its garden, a mass of glow- 
ing colors in the season of flowers, that extended 
back two hundred and fifty feet to the Heere 
Graft. 

He finally reached the Parade. On its 
western side were two popular taverns, one of 
them Captain Martin Cregier's, a very im- 
portant personage in his day. The fashionable 



52 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

store came next, then the residence of the Pro- 
vincial Secretary and the parsonage of Dominie 
jSIegapolensis ; all good, substantial buildings. 
When Father Le Moyne called at the parsonage 
to pay his resj)ects to the Dominie and to thank 
him for the kindness he had extended to members 
of the Society of Jesus, it was but natural that 
the minister should seek to learn something of the 
life of his priestly guest. 

Father Le Moyne had entered the Society of 
Jesus at nineteen, and had come to New France 
in 1638. He was the first priest to open the 
mission among the Mohawk and Onondaga Na- 
tions. In 1654, the Iroquois wanted peace with 
the French, and in July of that year, Father 
Le Moyne visited the Onondaga castle of the 
Iroquois and addressed a great council of the 
Indians. His sixteen years among the red men 
had not been passed in vain. He had mastered 
their language and every trick of their oratory, 
and in the long speech he made he presented to 
them nineteen wampum belts. His speech was 
a triumph, and the chiefs begged him to select a 
spot on the banks of beautiful Lake Ganentaa 
for a French settlement. During his stay of ten 
days at Onondaga, he discovered the rich salt 
springs. These springs are owned by the 
State and seven million bushels of salt a year 
have been produced from them. The French 
settlement at Lake Ganentaa flourished for 
a while, but it was discovered that the treacherous 
Onondagas were conspiring to massacre the 
settlers, and they abandoned the place and 
escaped by a ruse. Acting Governor d'Aille- 
bout, of New France, in retaliation for the treach- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 53 

ery of the Indians, seized every Iroquois Indian 
in Canada. These events closed the Iroquois 
mission field for the time, and Father Le Moyne 
took advantage of the opportunity to visit Rens- 
selaerswyck and New Amsterdam. His mis- 
sionary vrork completed, he bade adieu to his New 
Amsterdam friends and took passage on a sloop 
for Fort Orange. 

The next sloop that left Fort Orange for New 
Amsterdam carried a packet of manuscript from 
Father Le Moyne, who, having in mind the 
perversion of Dominie Megapolensis, wrote to 
his Calvinist friend that: " Christ hanging on 
the wood of the cross was still ready to receive 
his repentance or conversion." Accompanying 
this epistle were three essays : I. " On the Suc- 
cession of the Popes." II. " On the Council." 
Ill " On Heretics." You can picture to your- 
selves into what condition this adjuration threw 
the Dominie. He locked himself in his study for 
days, consulted with his learned co-laborer, 
Dominie Drisius, for hours, and the result was 
a formidable packet for Father Le Moyne, 
handed to the skipper of the first vessel .that 
sailed to Quebec. The vessel was wrecked on 
the voyage and the reply never reached Father 
Le Moyne. In a letter to his Classis, in 1657, 
Dominie Megapolensis wrote concerning Father 
Le Moyne: 

" This Simon Le Moyne has been with the 
Indians from the Indian country several times 
at Fort Orange. At last he came here to the 
Manhattans without doubt on account of the 
Papists residing here, and especially for the ac- 
commodation of the French sailors who are 



54 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Papists, and who have arrived here with a good 
prize." 

As Father Le Moyne came to New Amster- 
dam for the purpose of ministering to the faith- 
ful, it is probable that he brought with him the 
traveling chapel usually carried by the mission- 
aries, and, if so, that he offered the Holy Sacri- 
fice on the French ship and probably in the city. 
When Father Le Moyne reached Quebec, he was 
successful in securing permission for Dutch 
vessels to trade on the St. Lawrence River, and, 
under date, April 7th, 1658, sent the permit and 
wrote Governor Stuyvesant as follows: 

"Very Illustrious Sir: — I send you with my love a letter 
received in Quebec, which though written in French is sincere 
and friendly. He who signed his name to it, a very noble 
and also learned man, Lord Daillebout, did not wish, I think, 
to write in Latin, because perhaps more among you know 
French, than Latin, anyway because it treats of a matter con- 
cerning the French and those who love the French only. 

Furthermore he wrote it, who to-day acts as the deputy of 
our absent Viceroy and who some time was himself Viceroy. 

May it therefore bring happy, beneficial and fortunate results. 
Dear friends of the Manhattans draw your furrow through the 
sea to our Quebec and some time hereafter our Canadians will 
unexpectedly with God's guidance safely reach your shores. 
Although it is not in my power to make, as I hoped to voyage 
with you, for I have my forest boatmen with me; yet at some 
future day I promise to be your guest and servant. Even 
though my pen may have taken some liberties, overlook them, 
if you please. Illustrious Sir and take this letter as an assured 
testimony of my regard for the Dutch, and my love for you, 
with which I am 

Illustrious Sir 

Your most faithful and obedient servant, 

Simon Le Moyne, S.J. 

In September of the same year Dominies 
Megapolensis and Drisius joined in a letter to 



IN OLD NEW YORK 55 

the Classis of Amsterdam and the writer, 
Megapolensis, told in detail of the coming of the 
three Jesuits, Fathers Jogues, Bressani, and Le 
Moyne to New Amsterdam. In this letter he 
mentions that the Mohawks, after putting 
Father Jogues to death, presented Megapolensis 
with his missal, breviary and clothing. Writing 
of Father Bressani, Megapolensis said: 

" He wrote me a letter as the previous men- 
tioned one (Jogues) had done, thanking me for 
the benefits I had conferred on him. He stated 
also that he had not argued, when with me, on 
the subject of religion, yet he had felt deeply 
interested in me on account of my favors to him ; 
that he was anxious for the life of my soul, and 
admonished me to come again into the Papal 
Church from which I had separated myself. In 
each case I returned such a reply that a second 
letter was never sent me." 

Concerning Father Le Moyne, the letter reads 
in part that the priest told him of his discovery 
in the northern wilds, of the salt springs, of an 
oil spring and a spring of hot sulphurous water. 
" Whether all this is true," wrote the Dominie, 
" or a mere Jesuit lie, I will not decide." 

Father Le Moyne died at Cap de la Magde- 
laine, November 24th, 1665. 

A crowded conventicle in a Dutch church in 
the city was amazed and startled one day at 
seeing an Indian chief, a splendid specimen of 
manhood, clad in barbaric magnificence, the 
rosary around his neck with its crucifix resting 
on his chest the only incongruity in his attire, 
stride with dignity to the space in front of the 
pulpit. There was a pause in the service and the 



56 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Indian, kneeling, made the sign of the cross and 
" offered prayer to God " in the words the 
Jesuits had taught him. The minister inter- 
rupted the Chief's devotions and bade him 
withdraw. In a loud voice the Chief answered: 
" Wait, I have not yet finished my prayer. You 
make it easily seen that you are not Christians, 
for you do not love prayer." 

The Indian was Daniel Garakonthie, *' TJie 
Sun Who Walks," a great chief, orator of the 
Onondaga nation. Efforts had been made by 
some Dutch settlers near the Onondagas to 
proselytize the Catholic Indians, and, when 
persuasion had failed, the converts were warned 
not to carry their rosaries and crucifixes with 
them to New York. Garakonthie's appearance 
in the conventicle was his profession of faith 
prompted by these warnings. On another of 
his trading or ambassadorial visits to the city 
he was asked by some Protestants if he were 
still a Christian. " He replied boldly," says 
the Jesuit Relation of 1679, " that his faith 
would last as long as his life. They were so 
edified by his reply that they praised his con- 
stancy, and even exhorted him to persevere until 
death. That grace was vouchsafed him by Our 
Lord." 

In the northern wilderness, not far from the 
Onondaga's Castle, in 1661, Father Simon Le 
Moyne met Garakonthie and a band of his red 
men. A friendship was born between the 
priest and the savage at that meeting that grew 
into a deep brotherly love. In the council that 
followed at the Castle, Garakonthie was ap- 
pointed chief of an embassy that went to Mon- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 57 

treal. In the delicate negotiations that followed 
he displayed such wisdom and ability as to win 
for him the admiration and respect of the 
authorities of New France, and they found in 
Garakonthie a constant and sincere friend. On 
his return to the Onondaga country he secured 
the release of all French prisoners. Again in 
1663 he gathered all the captives in the Onon- 
daga canton and sent them to Quebec. In this 
way he saved twenty-six Frenchmen by ransom 
from fiery death, sheltered, fed, and clothed 
them, and saved the lives of sixty others by 
secret warnings of danger. Two years later he 
headed delegations from the Onondaga, Cayuga, 
and Seneca nations that visited Governor de 
Tracy at Quebec. His apostrophe to the 
memory of his old friend. Father Le Moyne, is 
a most touching specimen of Indian eloquence. 
Father Julian Garnier was the missionary to the 
Onondagas in 1668, and Garakonthie built a 
cabin and chapel for him. 

An outbreak of hostilities between the Iroquois 
nations and the Ottawas threatened a wide- 
spread and bloody war in 1670. Through the 
eloquence and labor of Garakonthie all the 
chiefs of both nations met in council at Quebec 
for the purpose of cementing a peace. At a 
session of the council Garakonthie addressed the 
great assemblage and declared himself a wor- 
shiper of Jesus Christ. Bishop Laval was 
present, and, turning to him, Garakonthie asked 
for baptism. Governor de Courcelles and 
Mademoiselle de Bouteroue, a daughter of the 
Intendant, acting as sponsors. He was named 
Daniel. Despite his advanced years, he learned 



58 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

to read and write French. He died an edifying 
death in 1675. 

In the records of New Netherland, there is 
but one instance of a Catholic suiFering for 
conscience' sake, and he did not suifer very 
severely or because he was a Catholic per se. In 
1658 one Nicholas, a Frenchman, was brought 
before the court and charged by the sheriff of 
Breukelen (Brooklyn) with refusing to con- 
tribute to the support of the Dutch minister. 
He " insolently pleaded the frivolous excuse " 
that he was a Catholic. He was, thereupon, 
fined twelve guilders. 

In no time or place in the world's history can 
there be found a braver, better, or more pic- 
turesque race of men than the French Canadians 
of old. One of them, a dashing, handsome 
young man, about twenty years of age, the fore- 
runner of a host who visited New York, stepped 
from a boat one day in 1662 or 1663 and walked 
right into the hearts of every man, woman, and 
child in New Amsterdam. A splendid specimen 
of manhood, save that a finger was scarred and 
disfigured and he was minus a thumb that he 
had lost a short time before under torture while 
a prisoner in the hands of the ferocious Mo- 
hawks. He returned to Canada by way of Fort 
Orange, New Amsterdam, and Port Royal. 
He was Fran9ois Hertel, the son of James 
Hertel, of Fecamp, Normandy, and of Mary 
Marquerie. Father Charlevoix, S.J., in his 
" History of New France," says of Hertel, he, 
" sanctified his captivity by a great innocence, 
perfect resignation to the orders of heaven and 
practices of piety, which inspired the respect even 



IN OLD NEW YORK 59 

of his enemies." While in the hands of the 
Indians he wrote the two following letters on 
birch bark. The first to Father Le Moyne, the 
other to his mother : 

My Reverend Father: — The very day when you left Three 
Rivers I was captured, at about three in the afternoon by four Iro- 
quois of the Mohawk tribe. I would not have been taken alive, 
if, to my sorrow, I had not feared that I was not in a fit state to 
die. If you came here, my Father, I could have the happiness 
of confessing to you: and I do not think they would do any 
harm; and I think that I could return home with you; I pray 
you to pity my poor mother, who is in great trouble. You know, 
my Father, how fond she is of me. I have heard from a 
Frenchman, who was taken at Three Rivers on the 1st of Au- 
gust, that she is well, and comforts herself with the hope that I 
shall see you. There are three of us Frenchmen alive here. I 
commend myself to your good prayers and particularly to the 
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I pray you, my Father, to say a mass 
for me. I pray you give my dutiful love to my poor mother, 
and console her, if it pleases you. 

My Father, I beg your blessing on the hand that writes to 
you, which has one of the fingers burned in the bowl of an 
Indian pipe, to satisfy the Majesty of God which I have offended. 
The thumb of the other hand is cut off; but do not tell my 
mother of it. 

My Father, I pray you to honor me with a word from your 
hand in reply, and tell me you shall come here before winter. 
Your most humble and most obedient servant, 

Francois Hertel. 



Mt Most Dear and Honored Mother : — I know very well 
that my capture must have distressed you very much. I ask you 
to forgive my disobedience. It is my sins that have placed me 
where I am. I owe my life to your prayers and those of M. 
de Saint-Quentin, and of my sisters. I hope to see you again 
before winter. I pray you to tell the good brethren of Notre 
Dame to pray to God and the Holy Virgin for me, my dear 
mother, and for you and all my sisters. 

Your poor 

Fanchon. 



60 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

In 1666 Hertel wrote to a friend in Albany a 
very interesting letter telling his experiences 
since leaving New Netherland, informing him of 
his marriage and mentioning the names of many 
Dutch friends to whom he sent his love. 

Twenty-four years after he appears in an- 
other character. Governor Frontenac, in 1690, 
sent three parties of French and Indians into 
New England to devastate it with fire and 
sword. Hertel in command of the Three Rivers 
Militia, consisting of fifty-two men, and ac- 
companied by his three sons and two nephews, 
surprised the settlement at Salmon Falls. 
Thirty persons were shot or tomahawked, fifty- 
four, mostly women or children, taken prisoners, 
and two thousand heads of cattle and a number 
of houses and barns burned. Piscataqua sent 
out a body of two hundred and forty men 
against the Canadians. The parties met at a 
narrow bridge over the Wooster River and 
Hertel held the enemy in check until his force 
could continue its retreat in safety. Later in 
the year he joined in the attack on Casco (Port- 
land), and for valorous conduct, during the 
attack of Phips on Quebec, was ennobled by the 
French king. In 1703 five of Hertel's sons led 
the attack on Deerfield, killing thirty-five of the 
settlers and taking many prisoners to New 
France. 

Fran9ois Hertel, Sieur de Chambly, died May 
29th, 1722, in his eightieth year. Of him Fran- 
cis Parkman says, in his " Old Regime in 
Canada," " To the New England of old he was 
the abhorred chief of Popish malignants and 
murdering savages. The New England of to- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 61 

day will be more just to the brave defender of 
his country and his faith." 

The English always claimed New Netherland 
because Cabot, the younger, was said to have 
crossed its latitude somewhere out in the ocean, 
and when Charles II ascended the throne of 
England, he granted to his brother, the Duke 
of York, large tracts of territory along the 
Atlantic coast including the Dutch possessions. 
Governor Stuyvesant had, in 1664, one hundred 
and fifty soldiers and two hundred and fifty 
citizens, capable of bearing arms, in New Am- 
sterdam. The fort mounted twenty guns and 
was insufficiently supplied with ammunition. 
There had been peace between England and the 
Netherlands for ten years but, one day in 
August, four frigates, carrying one hundred 
and twenty guns with five hundred British 
regulars, later reinforced with about five hun- 
dred New England volunteers, sailed up the bay 
and demanded the surrender of the little Dutch 
city. Stuyvesant was ready to resist, but there 
was great disaffection among the inhabitants. 
Two British frigates sailed past the fort while 
the gunners stood with lighted matches waiting 
the order to fire. Dominie Johannes Megapo- 
lensis and his son Samuel, a clergyman also, 
approached Stuyvesant and the former said to 
him: 

"Of what avail are our poor guns against 
that broadside of more than sixty? It is wrong 
to shed blood to no purpose." 

Overwhelmed with protests against resistance 
Stuyvesant surrendered September 3rd. The 
British flag was raised over the fort which be- 



62 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

came Fort James and New Amsterdam became 
New York. 

In 1665 Father Peter Smith was in the city, 
but there is no record of the length of his stay 
or his mission. 

When the news of the capitulation of New 
Amsterdam reached the Netherlands there was 
an outburst of indignation both in State and 
Church, and for a long time Stuyvesant and 
JSIegapolensis were in deep disgrace. The 
Directors of the West India Company in 1666 
censured Stuyvesant severely for his conduct: 

"It is an act that can never be justified, that 
a Director- General shall stand looking between 
the gabions whilst two hostile frigates pass the 
fort and the mouths of twenty pieces of cannon, 
among which were several demi-cartoons, and 
give no order to prevent it ; but, on the contrary, 
lending an ear to preachers and other chicken- 
hearted persons, demeaning himself as if he 
were willing to fire, yet notwithstanding allow 
himself to be led in from the bulwark between 
the preachers. . . ." 

Dominie Megapolensis, in August, 1666, 
wrote a defense of his action, at the time of the 
surrender, to the Classis of Amsterdam and 
requested " certain back paj'^ments due to his 
Rev. but which still remain unpaid by the Hon. 
West India Company." In the following 
December the Dominie's request was rejected 
" until his Rev. shall give further satisfaction 
concerning the events at the surrender of New 
Netherland to the English." 

In April, 1669, the Dominie wrote to the 
Classis of Amsterdam: 



IN OLD NEW YORK 63 

*' The West India Company unjustly with- 
hold two thousand florins, justly owing me for 
salary and due to me before the change of gov- 
ernment by the surrender of the place to the 
English. ... I trust that God, who has hith- 
erto taken care of me from my youth, when I 
relinquished Popery, and was thrust out at 
once from my inherited estate, will also hence- 
forth take care of me during the short remainder 
of my life. I am now sixty-five years old and 
have been a preacher about forty years. Of this 
time I have been twenty-seven years here and the 
remainder in North Holland." 

Notwithstanding a certificate as to the Dutch 
loyalty of Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, 
given him by the former Dutch officials, it is evi- 
dent his Classis still regarded him with disfavor. 
" They falsely accuse me," he wrote, " of treach- 
ery, of which they say I was guilty at the sur- 
render of the English. But how wrongly I was 
accused of this, your Reverences have been able 
to understand, by the defense which I sent you 
in my reply. ..." 

" On Sundays we have many hearers. People 
crowd into the church, and apparently like the 
sermon ; but most of the listeners are not inclined 
to contribute to the support and salary of the 
preacher. They seem to desire, that we should 
live upon air and not upon produce." Poor 
Dominie Megapolensis, shorn of influence, old 
friends and salary, died in New York, January 
14th, 1670. 

The English held New York for nine years. 
In 1672 England declared war against Holland, 
and in the following year a squadron of five 



64 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Dutch warships sailed up tlie bay and opened a 
heavy cannonade against the fort. As a result 
the Dutch tricolor floated again over the fort and 
city. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 65 



CHAPTER VI 

NEW York's first catholic ruler finds him- 
self ENMESHED IN DIFFICULTIES 

The Dutch warship " Muyall Tromp " sailed 
up the bay October 15th, 1674, and dropped 
anchor off Staten Island. A boat was lowered, 
an officer took his place in the stern and was 
rowed up to the city. He entered the fort and 
was closeted for a long time with Governor 
Anthony Colve. At the conclusion of the con- 
ference messengers were hurried through the 
city to summon the burgomasters and schepens 
to a special council. 

At the meeting the Governor confirmed news 
that had reached the city in June. By a treaty, 
signed at Westminster, in February, the Dutch 
had ceded New Netherland to the English. 
One week after the meeting the British frigates 
" Diamond " and " Castle " entered the bay and 
anchored near the shore. The bulwarks of the 
ships were lined with English soldiers who 
gazed with interest at the wooded shores of Staten 
and Long Islands, brilliant in autumn foliage, 
and at the sparkling waters of the great bay. 
Quite as much interest in the scene was mani- 
fested by the brilliantly attired group of men and 
women on the after deck of the " Diamond." 

The foremost personage of the gay company 



66 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was the new Governor of New York, Sir Ed- 
mund Andros, a handsome man of thirty-seven 
years, brought up in the King's household, a 
brave soldier and an able statesman. Beside him 
stood his young wife, Lady Mary. When King 
Charles had signed a new patent, reaffirming the 
title of his brother James, Duke of York, in his 
American possessions he had authorized him to 
raise a company of infantry of one hundred men 
to serve in his province. Sir Edmund, their 
captain, was surrounded by his officers. First 
Lieutenant Anthony Brockholls, Second Lieu- 
tenant Christopher Billop, and Ensign Caesar 
Knapton. In the group were Captain Philip 
Carteret, Captain John Manning, who had sur- 
rendered New York to Colve the previous year, 
the Reverend Nicholas Van Rensselaer and a 
number of colonial officials and gentlemen ad- 
venturers. The Governor dispatched Captain 
Carteret and Ensign Knapton to the fort in the 
city bearing the orders of the States-General of 
the United Netherlands for the surrender. 

In due time a boat came down the bay and 
Captain Carl Epstein and Lieutenant Carl 
Quirrynse boarded the " Diamond " and ex- 
pressed Governor Colve's regret at his inability 
to formally hand over the government for eight 
days. Andros fumed over the delay, but the 
English remained cooped up in their ships in the 
bay. When the eight days had lengthened to 
twelve a delegation of eminent merchants. Colon- 
ial Councilor Cornelis Steenwyck, Burgomasters 
Johannes Van Brug and Willem Beekman, 
visited the " Diamond " and welcomed Governor 
Andros. A week later there was an affecting 



IN OLD NEW YORK 67 

scene enacted in the Stadt Huys. Governor 
Colve solemnly absolved the Dutch inhabitants 
of the province from their allegiance to their 
High Mightynesses, the States-General, and His 
Serene Highness, the Prince of Orange. 

On October 31st, 1674, a long line of barges 
moved up the bay from the English vessels to 
the water gate of the fort, and to the thunder of 
cannon the Dutch flag was lowered and the 
English flag hoisted in its place. 

The province was formally handed over to 
Governor Andros, and Governor Colve, after 
graciously presenting his coach and horses to his 
successor, embarked on a Dutch warship and 
sailed away. So ended Dutch sovereignty over 
the western metropolis. Unto this day, despite 
years of English rule and the fact that the teem- 
ing population of the city is made up of men 
from every clime under the sun, there is much 
about New York that evidences its Dutch origin 
and rule, and although we may be alien to the 
Hollander in blood and creed, we have in our 
hearts an afi'ection for him and for his record 
in the city he founded and fostered. He left us 
a goodly inheritance. 

At the time Andros landed in New York, as 
he renamed the city, Catholics were not popular 
in old England. In 1673 a measure known as the 
Test Act had been passed requiring all persons 
holding civil or military office in England, Wales 
and the Channel Islands to take the oath of alle- 
giance and supremacy of the King in all matters ; 
publicly to receive the sacrament, as thfey called 
it, of the Lord's Supper, according to the usage 
of the Protestant Church of England and to 



68 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

sign a declaration against that doctrine most 
dear to the CathoHc heart — Transubstantiation. 
James, Duke of York, the proprietor of the 
province of New York, a gallant sailor and able 
statesman, was Charles' successor to the English 
throne. He was a convert to the Faith, but for 
reasons of state had not publicly announced his 
conversion. The English Protestants did not 
want a Catholic King, and suspecting that 
James had embraced the Faith directed the Test 
Act against him. Then with manly candor 
James openly professed his faith and resigned 
all his offices under the Crown, including that of 
Lord High Admiral of England. With a true 
Christian spirit he gave, in his instructions to 
Governor Andros, the following order concern- 
ing religion in his possessions: 

" You shall permit all persons of what religion 
soever, quietly to inhabit within the precincts of 
your jurisdiction, without giving them any dis- 
turbance or disquiet whatsoever, for or by reason 
of their differing opinions in the matter of re- 
ligion; Provided they give no disturbance to the 
public peace nor do molest or disquiet others in 
the free exercise of their religion." 

The second in command under Andros was 
First Lieutenant Anthony Brockholls. Lieu- 
tenant Brockholls was a native of Claughton in 
Lancashire, England. He was of a Catholic 
family that had its seat in the place for centuries. 
The Test Act, which would have excluded him 
from public employment in England, was not 
operative in the colonies. The Governor and his 
household made the old residence in the fort their 
home, and the soldiers were quartered in the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 69 

barracks vacated by the Dutch. Owing to lack 
of room in the fort the officers found accommo- 
dation in the ancient stone warehouse erected by 
the Dutch West India Company, which had been 
renovated for their occupancy. With but Httle 
disturbance the city accepted the change of 
masters, although Andros was compelled to 
arrest eight of the prominent citizens on a charge 
of treason for quibbling over the oath of 
allegiance. On November 10th a Mayor, Alder- 
men and Sheriff were sworn in. In May of the 
following year Andros left New York to visit 
the Duke's possessions on the Delaware River, 
and Brockholls administered the government as 
Commander-in-Chief, and filled the same office 
in August during the absence of Andros in 
Albany. In July both, with a retinue of 
officers and soldiers, made a tour of Long Island 
on horseback for the purpose of disarming the 
Indians, who threatened trouble; of reviewing 
the militia; restoring quiet, and reasserting the 
Duke's authority in the eighteen settlements 
on the island. Companies of individuals had 
crossed the Sound from New England and 
had settled wherever a suitable place was decided 
on. They were not under the control of any 
colonial government nor had they any political 
relationship with one another. On one question 
they agreed — that no one should be considered a 
free man or allowed to vote unless he was one of 
" God's Elect," in other words, a member of one 
of the New England Puritan Churches. The 
only code they recognized was the Mosaic law, 
and they held that all civil as well as rcHgious 
authority resided, of right, in the Church. 



70 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Every settlement had its infallible and sov- 
ereign pontiff in its minister, and of one of them 
— the Rev. Thomas James, pastor of East- 
hampton from 1650 to 1696 — it is written: 

" He was not to be stayed by any man so but 
that his grain should be first ground at the mill 
on the second day of every week." Woe betide 
the man who crossed the Reverend Mr. James 
in things temporal or spiritual. 

During the Dutch ascendency Southold, 
Southampton, Easthampton and other towns 
had placed themselves under the protection of 
Connecticut, and when New York was restored 
to the English they petitioned for continued pro- 
tection, and the General Court at New Haven 
granted the petition; but Governor Andros was 
not willing to be legislated out of such a slice of 
his master's possessions and promptly ordered 
the towns to restore the Duke's overseers and 
constables " under the penalty of being declared 
rebels." They failed to obey, the court was not 
allowed to hold sessions on the island, and Andros 
the following spring, crossed the East River to 
bring the discontented Long Islanders into sub- 
jection to the law. Discontent had been rife 
there during the administrations of his pre- 
decessors and continued during and after his 
term of office. 

The Jesuit Father Pierson, or Pierron, vis- 
ited the English colonies along the Atlantic sea- 
board in 1674, and, no, doubt, passed through 
New York. 

In October Brockholls was sent up the Hud- 
son River to take command in Albany. The 
Canadians and eastern Indians had been murder- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 71 

ing settlers and burning settlements, and Hadley, 
Deerfield, Northfield, and Springfield had been 
destroyed. BrockhoUs' mission was to negotiate 
with the Iroquois to attack the eastern Indians. 
A large band of Mohawks took the warpath, and 
fifty miles east of Albany attacked and drove 
back Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags, a son 
of the great Chief Massasoit. Poor Philip! 
He was killed the following year. His mangled 
right hand was exhibited for money to " New 
England curiosity," and his braves, who were 
not hanged, were sold into slavery in the 
West Indies. Even the grandson of the 
Chief, who was an early friend of the New 
Englanders, " was made a victim of Puritan 
avarice." 

The Indian troubles settled, BrockhoUs re- 
turned to New York and, a year later, with 
Ensign Knapton and Colonial Secretary Nicolls 
sailed for Pemaquid in command of a little 
squadron of four sloops, carrying one hundred 
soldiers and a framed blockhouse or redoubt. 
Pemaquid, which was a part of the Duke of 
York's possessions, was under the New York 
government and formed that part of the present 
State of Maine lying along the coast between 
the Kennebec and St. Croix Rivers. It had suf- 
fered severely during the Indian troubles, and 
the expedition had been sent to reassert 
the Duke's authority and to reestablish trade. 
A suitable place was found, the redoubt brought 
from New York was set up, surrounded by a 
high stockade, and seven great and small guns 
were mounted. With the firing of cannon the 
English flag was raised, and the work was 



72 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

named Fort Charles in honor of the King. This 
was the principal trading post, and Ensign 
Knapton was left in command with a garrison of 
fifty soldiers. 

In 1674 the authorities of the city were called 
upon to sit in judgment on the first case in- 
volving crimes against alien freemen that are a 
foul blot upon the pages of the city's history. 
William Corvan, a mulatto freeman of the 
island of Martinique, was kidnapped and carried 
to Boston. Friendless and penniless, he was com- 
pelled to bind himself as a servant to one 
Thomas Thatcher for a term of seven years. 
During the term of his indenture Thatcher 
claimed him as a slave and carried him to New 
York city. Corvan appealed to the New York 
authorities and an order issued that Thatcher 
must prove Corvan a slave within eight days, or 
enter security in ,£100 to prove him so within 
twelve months, otherwise, — " said mulatto shall 
be declared free." 

In the autumn of 1677 Andros sailed for Eng- 
land, leaving BrockhoUs in command. During 
that fall and winter he was a busy man. The 
fort in New York was strengthened and the 
worn-out gun platforms renewed. There were 
weekly meetings of the colonial council, visiting 
delegations of settlers with complaints and peti- 
tions, and long drawn out pow-wows with visit- 
ing bands of Indian chiefs. In addition there 
was correspondence with Governor Frontenac at 
Quebec, Governor Leverett of Massachusetts, 
Commander Knapton at Pemaquid, Commander 
Salisbury at Albany, and the Jesuit Father 
Bruyas in the Mohawks' country. One day a 



IN OLD NEW YORK 73 

messenger came up from Sandy Hook with a re- 
quest from Captain Bernard Le Moine of the 
French warship " Golden Fleece " that he be per- 
mitted to take his ship up the bay for wood and 
other supplies. The council graciously accorded 
permission, and the coming of the French 
officers created a stir in the social circles of the 
fort and town. 

As a result of the warfare along the borders, 
there were French prisoners in New York and 
New England, and English prisoners in New 
France. Exchanges were occasionally arranged 
and in May, 1678, Messieurs Lusignan and De 
la Chambre, the latter of Governor Frontenac's 
guards, arrived in Albany escorting a company 
of exchanged New England prisoners, taken in 
an attack by French and Indians on Hatfield and 
Hadley. The French officers, bearing a letter 
from Governor Frontenac to Commander Brock- 
hoUs, thanking him for past civilities, voyaged 
down the Hudson to New York city. They re- 
mained as Brockholls' guests until June and 
returned to Albany in a birch-bark canoe bearing 
Brockholls' answer to the Governor of New 
France. The enslaving of Indians had become 
a crying outrage, and in 1679 the colonial 
council adopted the following resolution: " That 
all Indians are free and not slaves, and cannot 
be forced to be servants, unless those formerly 
brought from the Bay of Campeches or other 
foreign parts; any of those brought within six 
months to be disposed out of the government, all 
brought from foreign parts after that time to be 
free." The following year an order was issued 
declaring all Indians free. 



74 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

In May, Andros returned. With him came 
WilHam Pinhorne, James Graham and John 
West, who became prominent men in the colony, 
and the Reverend James Wooley as chaplain of 
the forces in the fort. Commander Salisbury had 
died in Albany during the winter, and Brockholls 
was ordered up the river to succeed him. With 
John Pynchon, the representative of Massachu- 
setts, and the Albany officials, he took part in a 
conference with the Mohawk Indian Sachems, 
at which, with much peace-pipe smoking, burying 
of tomahawks, and presenting of wampum belts, 
a treaty of friendship was entered into between 
the Mohawks and New Englanders. 

Public affairs, however, did not occupy all the 
commandant's time. 

An Albany maiden, Susanna Schrick, had 
attracted his attention, and admiration had 
deepened into love. Susanna Schrick was the 
daughter of Paulus Schrick, a native of Nurem- 
berg. He was one of the little colony from New 
Netherland that had settled Hartford, Conn., 
before the coming of the English. He was a 
property owner in Pearl Street, New^ Amsterdam, 
and a free trader between New Amsterdam, 
Albany and Holland. The course of true love 
was interrupted by a summons to Brockholls to 
hasten to New York to relieve Governor Andros 
who had been ordered to England to answer 
charges. 

Complaints of ill-treatment and oppression by 
the proprietors of East and West Jersey were 
followed by insinuations that the Dutch were 
favored in trade, laws hurtful to the English 
were enacted, vessels were unduly detained for 



IN OLD NEW YORK 75 

private reasons, and that the Governor himself 
traded in the names of others. John Lewin was 
sent out by the Duke as his agent to investigate 
the affairs of the colony. Andros sailed from 
Sandy Hook in January, 1681, and before his 
ship sighted the shores of England Brockholls 
was enmeshed in a tangle of troubles. 

In 1677 the Duke of York settled for the three 
coming years the same rates of custom duties as 
prevailed during the three preceding years. The 
three years expired just as Governor Andros was 
preparing to leave for England, and in the hurry 
of departure he forgot to provide for an exten- 
sion. Brockholls and the council decided that 
they had no authority to further extend the oper- 
ation of the law and the greatest confusion re- 
sulted. Suit was instituted by the merchants 
against Collector Dyer, who was also mayor of 
the city, for detaining goods for custom duties, 
and he was compelled to deliver them free. In 
addition to this he was indicted for high treason 
for levying duties and thereby " traitorously 
exercising regal power and authority over the 
king's subjects." He pleaded not guilty, and 
refused to surrender the seal of the city and his 
commission as mayor. He was finally sent to 
England to be dealt with by the king. From all 
parts of the Duke's province arose a clamor 
for a provincial assembly. In August a com- 
mission arrived from London, appointing Brock- 
holls Receiver-General in place of Dyer. The 
merchants still refused to pay the duties, and 
Brockholls took no measures to coerce them. He 
wrote to Andros: 

" Here it was never worse. A government 



76 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

wholly overthrown and in the greatest Con- 
fusion and Disorder Possible." 

Discontent became something akin to anarchy 
on Long Island. Disorderly meetings were 
held. Two prominent justices of the peace were 
arrested for disaffection to the government, and 
troubles between ministers and their congre- 
gations on Long Island, Staten Island and in 
Albany were carried to the distracted Com- 
mander-in-Chief, who, nevertheless, found time 
amidst all his perplexities to marry Susanna 
Schrick, May 2nd, 1681. The five children re- 
sulting from this union were all baptized in 
the Dutch Reformed Church, of which Mrs. 
Brockholls was a member. 

There is an interesting incident chronicled in 
the old Albany records, which, while it did 
not occur in New York, is significant of the 
time: 

" December, 1681. The sheriff, ex-ofiicio, 
claims of Jan Van Loon /800 Seawan for a fine 
having greatly upbraided and injured Marten 
Cornelis, who had changed the Roman Catholic 
religion for the Protestant, and calumniated the 
Protestant church itself by saying among other 
things to Marten that he had turned from God 
to the devil." Poor Marten Cornelis! He was 
one of the vanguard of the mighty and, at that 
time, ever increasing army of apostasy. The 
lack of priests, the allurements of the world, and 
many other causes had combined to win tens 
of thousands from the Faith. God rest good, 
sturdy, brave, old Cathohc Jan Van Loon! In 
that stronghold of Calvinism he kept the Faith 
and fought the good fight and, almost alone as 



IN OLD NEW YORK 77 

he was, did not hesitate to express his opinion of 
Marten the apostate. 

During the year 1681 troubles arose in every 
quarter. Lady Carteret claimed Staten Island 
as part of the Jersey grant, and Brockholls 
sternly resisted her claim. Dissensions and dis- 
turbances were rife in Esopus and Albany and 
on Long Island. Connecticut claimed New 
York territory to within ten miles of the Hudson 
River. Even the sea contributed its share of 
trouble in the shape of pirates. One John 
Williams captured a ketch, a vessel resembling 
a schooner, from the Spaniards in Cuba. He 
renamed her " Ruth," and, turning pirate, 
sailed for the English colonies. He committed 
depredations in the vicinity of Accomac, Vir- 
ginia, and made a bold attempt to kidnap no less 
a personage than Lord Baltimore, to hold him 
for a big ransom. Joined by another piratical 
sloop, the " William," he sailed for the east end 
of Long Island and captured several vessels. 
Tidings of his lawless acts reached the fort in New 
York and Brockholls directed that efforts be 
made to capture all pirates on the coast, and that 
they be sent to New York. The sloop " Planter's 
Adventure " was hastily armed and sent on a 
cruise against them. The authorities of Rhode 
Island and Connecticut were aroused and captur- 
ing two of the pirates sent them to Sir Henry 
Chicheley, Deputy Governor of Virginia, to be 
punished for their crimes. For a time piracy 
became unpopular as a means of livelihood. 
Two years prior to this time King Charles II 
had granted to William Penn, a Quaker, son of 
Admiral Sir William Penn, an immense region 



78 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

north of Maryland, which was named Penn- 
sylvania. Penn was always scheming to add to 
his possessions and he induced the Duke of York, 
in 1682, to convey to him his interest in Delaware. 
He sailed at once for New York, and was 
received in the fort by Commander Brockholls, 
who inspected his deeds from the Duke, and, find- 
ing them correct, instructed the Duke's officers 
in the Delaware to recognize and obey the new 
proprietor. 

From New France came Sieur Peter de 
Salvaye, an envoy from Governor Lefebvre de 
la Barre, with a complaint. In spite of the 
eiforts of the Canadian government the fur 
trade was attracted from Montreal to Albany, 
because the traders could obtain better prices for 
the peltries in the latter place. Sixty Canadians 
had moved over the border. Sieur de Salvaye 
had come to ask Brockholls to prevent such 
desertions. He was assured that Governor An- 
dros had made every effort to prevent runaways 
from entering New York without a proper 
passport. 

In a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam, in 
October, 1682, Dominie Henry Selyns wrote 
concerning the Catholics: " As to papists, there 
are none; or if there are any they attend 
our services or that of the Lutherans," which 
would indicate that Commander Brockholls' 
Catholicity at that time was not aggressively 
evident. 

Many improvements were made under Andros 
and Brockholls in New York. The Heere- 
Graf t, was no more. Its waterway had been filled 
in, and the tan pits on its banks, between what 



IN OLD NEW YORK 79 

are now Beaver Street and Exchange Place, had 
shared the same fate. The old Dutch church- 
yard on the west side of Broadway had been sold 
off in building lots. The ordinance providing 
for the digging of the first public wells in the 
center of certain streets is quaint: " Ordered that 
wells be made by the inhabitants of the streets, 
where they are severally made: One in Broad- 
way, opposite Van Dyck's; one in the street 
opposite Derick Smith's; one in the street oppo- 
site John Cavalier's ; one in the yard of the City 
Hall; one in the street opposite Cornells Van 
B or sum's." 

The little dock at the foot of Moore Street 
had been extended, and formed the southern 
side of a basin that extended to the City Hall. 
This great dock was finished in 1683. It was 
during the Andros administration that the " Bolt- 
ing Act " was passed that did so much to bring 
prosperity to New York. This bolting act 
secured to ISTew York citizens the exclusive 
right to bolt or sift flour and to export sea biscuit 
and flour. All places in the interior of the prov- 
ince were forbidden to pursue these branches of 
trade under penalty of forfeiture of the contra- 
band articles. During the sixteen years that 
this act was in force the wealth of the city was 
trebled. Six hundred houses were erected, lots 
increased to ten times their former value, and 
sixty large vessels were added to the fleet hailing 
from the port. But precisely as they are to-day, 
after the passage of two centuries, the up-coun- 
try New Yorkers were jealous of their city 
brethren, and in 1694 eff*ected the repeal of the 
Bolting Act. 



80 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The Heere Straat, that had been renamed 
Broadway within a year after the first capture 
of the city by the British, had been improved by 
new buildings, and more than seventy hned the 
street between BowKng Green and the present 
Wall Street. Down on the river side, between 
what are now Wall Street and Franklin Square, 
was known as Smit's V'ly or Smith's Valley, and 
here twenty-four houses had sprung up outside 
the wall along the road to the Brooklyn ferry. 
The Water side, as the present north side of 
Pearl Street between Wall Street and Han- 
over Square was called, boasted forty-two build- 
ings, and was the commercial heart of the city. 
High Street, or Hoogh Straat, now narrow 
Stone Street, between Hanover Square and 
Broad Street, was a very fashionable residential 
street in those days, and contained twenty-eight 
dwellings, which were among the best in town, 
and its continuation to Whitehall Street, which 
was known as Brouwer's Straat, contained the 
house in which Major Anthony Brockholls dwelt 
after vacating his quarters in the fort. 

It must have been with a great sigh of relief 
that Brockholls read, early in 1682, a letter from 
England announcing the appointment of a 
successor to Andros, and good reason he had to 
feel relieved. The province, from the east end 
of Long Island to Schenectady, seethed with dis- 
content, and from every settlement arose a cry 
for a popular assembly. On the northern bor- 
ders the French claimed the entire region nearly 
as far south as Albany, and French agents and 
soldiers were alternately negotiating with and 
threatening the Five Nations to bring them under 



IN OLD NEW YORK 81 

French domination. On the east, Connecticut 
was agitating the boundary question, on the 
south, New Jersey was cutting into New York's 
trade and revenues, while WilHam Penn coveted 
the rich and beautiful upper valley of the Sus- 
quehanna. 



82 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER VII 

IN WHICH A CATHOLIC GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS 
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 

A GREAT top-heavy old frigate, said to be the 
first of its class in the British Navy, His 
Majesty's ship " Constant Warwick," trans- 
formed " from twenty-six gunns and an incom- 
parable sayler to forty-six gunns and a slug," 
dropped anchor oif Nantasket, Massachusetts, 
after a long and tiresome voyage, August 10th, 
1683. The most important personage among 
the passengers was Colonel, the Honorable 
Thomas Dongan, who bore the Duke of York's 
commission as his Lieutenant and Governor of 
the Province of New York, including the district 
of Pemaquid, Maine, and the islands of Nan- 
tucket and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. 

The Governor and his staff were received at 
Nantasket by a troop of Boston militia and a 
number of notables of that town, and were es- 
corted as far as Dedham, Massachusetts. He 
crossed the sound to Long Island, and had not 
progressed far towards New York city before 
learning, from delegations of Long Islanders, 
headed by their ministers, the deep-rooted dis- 
content of the people against " taxation without 
representation." On this journey he met for the 
first time the red men, remnants of the Manhas- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 83 

set, Montauk, Shinnecock, Patchogue, Secatague, 
Mericoke, Marsapeague, Corchaug, Setauket, 
Nissequag, Matinecock, Rockaway and Canarsie 
tribes. The Rev. Thomas James and a dele- 
gation of Easthampton Puritans received the 
new Governor and protested loudly against the 
general order of things. They knew, of course, 
because rumor had been busy, that the big 
pleasant- faced affable Governor was one of the 
hated " Papists," but did any of them suspect 
that the figure clad in sober raiment in the gay- 
colored and gold-laced retinue was one of the 
"abhorred brood" of Jesuits? Father Thomas 
Harvey, S.J., who was born in London in 1635, 
and entered the Society of Jesus in 1665, had 
come out with the Governor as his chaplain. 

The settlements on and adjacent to Long 
Island at that day were Southold, Southampton, 
Hempstead, Gravesend, Flushing, Brooklyn, 
Easthampton, Gardiner's Island, Flatbush, Shel- 
ter Island, Huntington, Oyster Bay, Flatlands, 
Brookhaven, Newtown, Jamaica, New Utrecht, 
Bushwick, Smithtown, and Islip, and the larger 
of these were visited by the Governor and his 
suite. They journeyed westward through the 
sandy level country of the south side or crossed 
the island to some village in the beautiful up- 
lands of the north shore. 

Dongan was the youngest son of Sir John 
Dongan, a member of the Irish parliament, a cap- 
tain of horse and large landed proprietor. He 
was born in 1634, in the manor house of Castle- 
town, Kildrought, now known as Celbridge, in 
County Kildare, Ireland. Authorities differ as 
to the family origin. Some assert that the Don- 



84 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

gans are descended from the ancient Irish 
O'Dunnagans, but O'Hart names them among 
the famihes of English or Anglo-Norman de- 
scent. Certain it is that the Dongans held places 
of prominence in Irish history since the four- 
teenth century. Thomas Dongan's mother was a 
Talbot, and his maternal uncles were Archbishop 
Talbot of Dublin and Richard Talbot, Earl of 
Tyrconnell, Lord Deputy of Ireland under 
James II. The Talbots and the Calverts (Lords 
Baltimore) were distantly related, and to Don- 
gan and Calvert belong the distinction of pro- 
claiming religious liberty in two English-Amer- 
ican colonies. Sir Walter Dongan, Thomas' 
eldest brother, was deep in Irish patriotic plots 
and was one of the Confederated Catholics 
in the assembly in Kilkenny in 1646. He died 
childless, and was succeeded by William, the 
second eldest, whose patriotic adherence to Ire- 
land and the house of Stuart compelled him 
to abandon his estates and fly to France in 
Cromwell's time. 

This was in 1649, and Thomas, a youth of 
fifteen, accompanied his brother across the water. 
A commission in the French army was obtained 
for Thomas, and he participated in every cam- 
paign under the great Marshal Turenne until 
the latter's death in 1675. James, Duke of York, 
also served under Turenne until 1656, and it 
is probable that the Duke met Dongan in 
France, and the acquaintance afforded him op- 
portunities of forming an estimate of Dongan's 
character and abilities. In 1678 King Charles 
II issued peremptory orders that all English 
subjects must leave France. Dongan, whose 



IN OLD NEW YORK 85 

name is given as " D 'unguent " in French docu- 
ments, had been made a colonel in 1674, and 
the pay and emoluments of his rank were worth 
to him £5,000 a year. The most tempting offers 
of promotion were made him to remain, but true, 
as were all his house, to the Stuarts he refused 
and was ordered out of France within forty-eight 
hours by Louis XIV. Sixty-five thousand livres 
arrears of pay, due him from France, he never 
received. On his arrival in England, King 
Charles appointed him a general officer in the 
army organized to fight the French in Flanders, 
and settled on him an annual pension of £500 
for life. He did not go to Flanders, but 
was, the same year, made Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of Tangiers, Africa, under Lord Inchi- 
quin. Tangiers and Bombay had been given 
as a dower by King Alfonso V of Portugal to 
Princess Catherine of Braganza on her marriage 
with Charles II in 1662. Strange as it may 
seem, Bombay, the great East Indian port of to- 
day, was looked upon at that time a's of little 
importance, and an immense amount of money 
was expended fortifying and improving Tan- 
giers, but in 1683 Charles caused the expensive 
fortifications to be blown up and the place 
abandoned. It became in after days a piratical 
port. Dongan served two years in Tangiers and 
found his expenses greater than his income. He 
was recalled and, after a visit to Ireland, went 
to London, and became well known and popular 
in court and social circles. In 1682 he was 
appointed " Governor of the Duke of York's 
Province of New York." He was then in his 
forty-eighth year. Before he sailed for America 



86 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the Duke of York, who had again been made 
Lord High Admiral, commissioned Dongan a 
Vice- Admiral. 

Crossing the East River, Saturday, August 
25th, Dongan and his retinue entered the city. 
Crowds of English, Dutch, French, Indians, and 
negro slaves lined the streets between the walls 
and the fort, through which the cavalcade passed, 
and received the new Governor with vociferous 
expressions of delight, for it had been noised 
about that he came empowered by the Duke to 
adjust all the difficulties that racked the province. 
The little half-moon fort at the water gate, the 
rough stockade across the island, and the tattered 
soldiery must have brought an amused smile to 
the face of the soldier of Turenne, accustomed 
to the great fortifications and gorgeously clad 
•and disciplined armies of Europe. What a con- 
trast, the cosmopolitan crowd along the streets 
and the low toy-like houses, to the inhabitants and 
huge old buildings of an ancient city of France 
or Germany! To the boom of cannon and the 
cheers of the people the Governor and his escort 
entered the fort. Next day was passed as became 
the Lord's day, and it is likely that the Holy Sac- 
rifice of the Mass was offered within the walls of 
the fort by Father Harvey, assisted by Father 
Michael Forster (Gulick) , Superior or the Mary- 
land Jesuit Mission. On Monday morning the 
great room in the City Hall or Stadt Huys on 
Pearl Street was crowded by the provincial offi- 
cials, civil and military, and the Mayor and Com- 
mon Council of the city gathered to meet the Gov- 
ernor, who was escorted from the fort by the 
soldiery. After the functionaries had been pre- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 87 

sented to their new ruler, he stepped outside the 
building and his commission was read, also his 
instructions respecting special privileges to be 
accorded the metropolis. There were nearly four 
thousand inhabitants in New York at that time, 
and it seemed as if they were all crowded in the 
yard of the City Hall. When they heard that 
they were to have a popular assembly, the people 
were wild with joy, and, to the bass accompani- 
ment of the roll of drums and the booming 
guns of the fort, their shouts and acclamations 
were heard on the Long Island shores. As 
they looked at the stalwart soldierly figure of 
the gracious, smiling Governor they felt that 
here was a man who could and would restore 
peace and prosperity to the province and subdue 
both foreign and domestic foes. 

Next day, on the invitation of the magis- 
trates, the Governor was entertained at a ban- 
quet by the Corporation in the City Hall, Mayor 
William Beekman presiding. All the prominent 
men of the municipality and province, Dutch, 
English and French, were present. A chronicle 
of the day says : " His honour received a large 
and plentiful entertainment, and they had great 
satisfaction in his honour's company." The 
Irish gentleman, the soldier of Turenne, the 
English official, the courtier of Versailles and 
Whitehall had, by his magnetism, his affability, 
his wit and common sense, completely captivated 
the great men of New York. After the fes- 
tivities the Governor took up the reins of govern- 
ment without delay and, as instructed by the 
Duke, selected and swore in his council and 
appointed his provincial officials. 



88 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Major Anthony Brockholls was named a 
Councilor and a member of a committee to cata- 
logue the records of the city and province, and 
Mark Talbot, a Catholic, who had come to New 
York in the Governor's suite, and who was 
doubtless related to him, was appointed on a com- 
mittee to survey Fort James. 

Word came from Albany that William Penn's 
agents were in that place negotiating with the 
Iroquois Indians for the upper Susquehanna 
Valley, and Dongan sailed on the four-days 
journey to Albany, September 6th, to put a stop 
to the proceedings. As this chronicle deals with 
New York city, matters affecting the province 
at large will not be treated in detail except inas- 
much as they affect the city. Penn's efforts to 
secure possession of the upper Susquehanna Val- 
ley were defeated by Dongan, but gained for the 
New York Governor the lasting enmity of the 
Quaker. A week later the Governor and his coun- 
cil held a session in the fort at New York, and 
issued a call for the freeholders of New York, 
Long Island, Esopus, Albany and Martha's 
Vineyard to choose representatives to appear at 
a General Assembly to be held in New York 
city, October 17th, to consult with the Gov- 
ernor and council, " what laws are fit to be made 
and established for the good weal and govern- 
ment of the said colony and its dependencies and 
all the inhabitants thereof." The call for the 
assembly caused rejoicing in every part of the 
Duke's possession, save in the eastern end of 
Long Island, where it seems to have been re- 
garded with suspicion as some sort of " popish " 
plot. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 89 

At a council meeting held in the fort on 
October 4th and 5th three great Sachems of the 
Mohawks were present with their squaws, and 
Governor Dongan inaugurated the great strug- 
gle with the French for the friendship and fealty 
of the Five Nations, and for British jurisdiction 
over them and the country south of the St. 
Lawrence River and the lakes, that continued in 
the council and the wilderness until his recall by 
King James. In the documentary history of 
New York there are no abler, stronger, wittier 
papers than the letters that passed between Don- 
gan and Denonville, the Governor of New 
France, in the struggle for possession of the 
regions that form the greater part of the Empire 
State. Unsupported, and hampered for reasons 
of State by his home government, Dongan, with 
the far-seeing vision of the statesman, realized 
the importance and value of the territory for 
which he contended, and, in spite of all obstacles, 
fixed the northern boundary of his province on 
the southern shores of the great northern water- 
ways. 

So rapidly grew the new Governor's popu- 
larity that early in October, at a meeting of the 
sheriffs of the province, called for the purpose of 
adopting an address of thanks to the Duke of 
York for granting a General Assembly, a clause 
therein read as follows : " We do, therefore, be- 
seech your royal highness to accept our most 
humble and most hearty thanks for sending us 
over the honourable colonel Thomas Dongan, to 
be lieutenant and governor of this province, of 
whose integrity, justice, equity and prudence we 



90 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

have already had a very sufficient experience at 
our last general court of assizes." 

October 17th was the most momentous day 
that had dawned on the little city on Manhattan 
Island and the province of which it was the 
capital. Seventeen representatives of the people, 
elected by the people, met in General Assembly in 
the fort and elected Matthias Nicolls Speaker 
and John Spragg Clerk. Of this assembly 
Thompson, in his " History of Long Island," 
wrote: "And thus by the persuasions of a 
Quaker (once so odious) did a bigoted Roman 
Catholic prince give orders to a papistical gov- 
ernor, to introduce a popular assembly elected 
by the people themselves, who had before no 
share in the government. An event similar in 
principle and of nearly equal importance to that 
glorious independence which their descendants 
procured for themselves in less than a century 
later." Unfortunately the Journal of the As- 
sembly is not known to exist, but it is known that 
its session lasted three weeks and that fourteen 
acts were passed after three readings each, and 
received the assent of the Governor and council. 

Its most important enactment was: " The 
Charter of Liberties and Priviledges granted by 
his Royal Highness to the Inhabitants of New 
Yorke and its dependencies," which provided 
that the supreme authority under the King and 
Duke " shall forever reside in a governour, 
council and the people met in general assembly." 
The phrase, " the people met in general assem- 
bly," proves that to New York belongs the lead- 
ership " in the struggle for equal rights and 
ancient liberties." The assembly took up at 



IN OLD NEW YORK 91 

once the work of restoring order out of the 
provincial chaos. The province and dependencies 
were divided into the following shires or coun- 
ties: New York, Westchester, Ulster, Albany, 
Dutchess, Orange, Richmond, Kings, Queens, 
Suffolk, Duke's and Cornwall. The following 
tribunals were provided: Town courts for trial 
of small causes, to be held on the first Wednesday 
of each month; County courts or Courts of 
Sessions, quarterly or semi-annually; General 
court of Oyer and Terminer, to sit twice every 
year in each county; and a Court of Chancery, 
the Supreme Court of the province, to be com- 
posed of the Governor and council, with power 
in the Governor to appoint a Chancellor in his 
stead. Another important act provided for the 
naturalization of all persons residing in the prov- 
ince professing Christianity and taking the 
oaths of allegiance. The Governor signed the 
Charter of Liberties, and on October 31st it was 
solemnly proclaimed at the City Hall, to the blare 
of trumpets and amidst the acclamations of the 
multitude, " in the presence of his Honor the 
Governor, the Council and Representatives and 
Deputy Mayor and Alderman of this City." . . . 
" Thus the principle of taxation only by consent 
was initiated as a law of the land." 

Even in those early days the " liquor question " 
was a burning issue, because, on November 2nd, 
the Governor was compelled to issue a procla- 
mation that read in part that, as " greate hurt, 
trouble and inconveniences have and do grow 
and increase every day, from the disorders com- 
mitted in publick drinking-houses, tap houses and 
ordinarys, and by persons presuming to sell 



92 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

liquors without license, Ordered that no person 
presume to sell under five gallons without ob- 
taining license." 

The city corporation petitioned the Governor, 
early in November, for a charter which would 
confirm certain " ancient customs, privileges and 
immunities," granted in 1665, and, in addition 
thereto, the division of the city into six wards 
and the annual election or appointment of cor- 
poration officers. After some hesitation the 
Governor, in December, granted the petition, 
and the city was divided into the South, Dock, 
East, North, West, and Out wards. 

During November a commission from Con- 
necticut, headed by Governor Robert Treat, 
came to New York in response to a letter from 
Dongan demanding a settlement of the disputed 
eastern boundary line. It was a characteristic 
eff*usion: " If you do not submit," he wrote, " to 
let us have all the land within twenty miles of 
Hudson's River, I must claim as far as the 
Duke's Patent goes, which is to the River Con- 
necticut." The negotiations between the Com- 
missioners extended over several years, and the 
final result fixed the boundaries as they exist to- 
day. 

Early in December the Corporation sent 
another committee to the Governor to ask ad- 
ditional privileges for the citj^ Upon hearing 
their request he exclaimed : 

" I wonder that having lately granted almost 
every particular of a large and considerable 
petition that I should so suddenly receive 
another." 

He admired their progressive spirit, however. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 93 

and before the close of 1683 had added many 
new ordinances and conferred additional priv- 
ileges on the city. Among the most important 
were provisions that markets be held on Wednes- 
days and Saturdays and be opened and closed 
with the ringing of bells. The Brooklyn ferry 
was granted to the city with the proviso that two 
passenger and one cattle boat be kept on each 
side of the river. Docks and wharves were 
allowed the city, " provided they be kept cleared," 
otherwise the privilege would be forfeited. It 
was provided that the bakers of the city should 
be under the supervision of the Mayor as to the 
weight and price of bread. Twenty licensed 
carmen were appointed, also chimney sweeps and 
an " inviter to funerals." 

About this time the town of Hempstead, 
Long Island, presented the Governor with two 
hundred acres of land, and during the following 
year added two hundred more, making a fine 
domain that extended from the north side of 
Hempstead plains to Lake Success. The Gov- 
ernor, on December 14th, dispatched Mark Tal- 
bot to London as bearer to the Duke of York 
of the charter and laws adopted by the assembly 
for his confirmation. 

The proprietors of East Jersey revived their 
claim to Staten Island early in 1684, and Don- 
gan met their pretensions with characteristic 
vigor. A petition was sent to the Duke of York 
urging him to annex East Jersey to his province 
" by purchase or otherwise," on the ground that 
the adjacent colony was flourishing at the expense 
of New York. The Duke deferred action on 
this petition until he, as King, in 1688 consoli- 



94 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

dated all the northern and eastern colonies 
except Pennsylvania. 

In March the Governor issued a proclamation 
confirming the bolting privilege granted the city 
during the administration of Andros. At that 
time there were twenty- four bakers in the city, 
compelled by law to furnish a white loaf of 
bread weighing at least twelve ounces and sold 
at six stivers of wampum. 

The authorities were called upon to deal with 
what was probably the first labor strike during 
this month. Twenty licensed carmen had a 
monopoly of the cartage of the city. They re- 
ceived threepence for cartage to any part of the 
city and double rates outside the walls. In 
return for the concession they formed a high- 
way and street-cleaning force, and were obliged 
to fill in and repair breaches in the streets and to 
remove from the streets, every Saturday after- 
noon, the refuse that had been swept together 
by the inhabitants. Dissatisfied with this ar- 
rangement, fifteen carmen " went on strike," 
were promptly dismissed, and all persons, except 
slaves, were allowed to act as carmen. A week 
later three of the strikers submitted, were 
pardoned and restored on acknowledging their 
fault and paying a fine of five shillings. 

One day in June of that year the guns of Fort 
James thundered a salute and the city troops 
turned out in honor of Lord Howard of Effing- 
ham, Governor of Virginia, and two members 
of his council, who had journeyed to New York 
to urge Dongan to unite with Virginia in a war 
on the Iroquois because of outrages committed 
by the red men along the northern boundaries of 



I 



IN OLD NEW YORK 95 

both Maryland and Virginia. During his stay in 
New York Lord Effingham was the guest of 
Governor Dongan and was entertained by the 
leading men of the community. The corporation 
conferred on him the freedom of the city. 

Dongan's plans made it absolutely essential 
for him to win and retain the friendship of the 
Five Nations, and with that end in view he 
accompanied Lord Effingham to Albany and met 
in council delegations of Sachems from the 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Senecas, Onondagas and 
Cayugas. Axes were buried, peace pipes smoked 
and a firm peace concluded. The Indians were 
deeply grateful to Dongan for his services as 
mediator, and presented him with two white 
dressed deerskins on which was written their sub- 
mission to the Great Sachem Charles. These 
were to be sent to the Great Sachem across the 
waters, that he might " write on them and put 
a great red seal to them." As British influence 
with the Iroquois increased French influence 
lessened. 

Early in 1684 bands of Cayugas and Senecas 
plundered several French trading parties. The 
French Governor De la Bar re, determined to 
punish them, led an expedition to the Seneca 
country, but, having arrived there, found his 
forces so reduced by exposure and disease that 
he gladly concluded a peace with the Indians, 
early in September, greatly to the detriment of 
French prestige. 

The ringing of the bell on the church 
in the fort in New York, September 14th, 
announced the opening of a Latin school to the 
inhabitants. It is likely that Father Harvey 



96 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was the teacher. Several of the principal men of 
the city sent their sons to the school, but the 
bigotry of the people prevented its success. 
For its maintenance Governor Dongan had re- 
quested permission from King James to grant 
the Duke's, later the King's farm to the school, 
but King James refused, saying he would not 
have his Governors " deprived of their conven- 
iences." The King's farm was on the west side 
of Broadway, between the modern Fulton and 
Chambers streets. It was granted to Trinity 
Protestant Episcopal Church by Queen Anne in 
1705. 

In October the assembly held its second ses- 
sion and passed thirty-one laws that received 
the Governor's sanction. In the early part of 
1684 the Governor received a touching petition 
from two brothers, Philip and Dego Dequa, two 
free Spanish- American negroes sold into slavery. 
Philip Dequa had been captured in a raid by the 
buccaneer Henry Morgan on the city of Panama 
in 1671, and his brother Dego was taken by a 
French captain from a Spanish prize ship in 
1673. Both were carried to Jamaica and sold as 
slaves. One was sent to New York in 1681, the 
other following two years later. Philip was sold 
to David Yoakhams for £35, and Dego to 
Jacobus Van Courtlandt, merchant. In their 
petition they said: " We your poore petitioners 
are free born subjects to our King and have been 
brought up in the wayes of Christianity and in 
the Roman Catholique Religion which we still 
stand by and continue in the same and hope- 
ing thereby in and though ye meritt of our 
Blessed Saviour to obtain life everlasting 



IN OLD NEW YORK 97 

not doubting that ye loving God is on our side 
and every good Christian would lend their help- 
ing hand to assist ye poor peticioners." There 
is no record of the final disposition of this case, 
but the records of his time demonstrate that the 
holding of Christians in slavery was abhorrent 
to New York's greatest colonial Governor. 

Two Canadians, Sieur Jean Bourdon and M. 
de Salvaye, bearing a message from Governor 
De la Barre of New France to Governor Don- 
gan, notifying him of the expedition against the 
Senecas, were in the city in 1684. Bourdon 
came to Canada in 1633 or 1634. In 1637 he 
obtained the seigneury of Dombourg (later 
Neuville and Pointe aux Trembles), and was 
proprietor of the fiefs of St. John and St. 
Francis in the dependency of Quebec. After 
Father Jogues' return from France, Bourdon 
accompanied him on his first visit to the Mohawk 
villages, and was notified the following year by 
a letter from a friend in New York of the 
martyrdom of the saintly Jesuit. In 1656 he 
entered Hudson Bay and took possession for the 
French King, and a year prior to his visit to New 
York he explored the coast of Labrador. He 
served New France as Chief Engineer and later 
as Attorney-General. 

About this time Father Harvey baptized a 
girl baby in the chapel of the fort who afterwards 
gained mention in Canadian history. Sir 
William Phips sailed up the St. Lawrence with 
a fleet, in 1690, to attack Quebec. He captured 
a French bark in which Madame and Md'lle de 
la Lande and Md'lle Jolliet were passengers. 
After the failure of Phips' attack, Md'lle de la 



98 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Lande, who was the infant baptized in New 
York, proposed to Phips to go as his repre- 
sentative to Frontenac to arrange an exchange 
of prisoners. Her offer was accepted, and the 
embassy of the young French Canadian as rep- 
resentative of the British- American Admiral was 
successful. 

Early in 1685 the news reached Dongan that 
his brother William, who had been created 
Baron Dongan and Viscount Claine in 1661, had 
been advanced on the peerage to the Earldom of 
Limerick, with remainder over, in default of 
heirs, to the Governor. Captain Jervis Baxter, 
a Catholic, was appointed a Provincial Councilor 
this year and served continuously until 1688. 

Governor Dongan erected a Court of Ex- 
chequer, to be presided over by the Governor and 
Council, to exercise jurisdiction over matters re- 
lating to the Duke's land rents, rights and 
revenues. In 1691 matters in exchequer were 
placed under the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court, and the Court of Exchequer ceased to 
exist. 

Ever seeking methods to develop and 
strengthen the good relations between the Eng- 
lish colonies, Dongan directed the city corpora- 
tion to take steps to establish postal commu- 
nication, and the corporation, in March, proposed 
" that for the better correspondence between the 
Colonies of America a post office be established 
and the rates for riding post be, per mile, 3d. 
for every single letter not above one hundred 
miles; if more proportionately." 

Captain Jervis Baxter returned from London 
about mid- April with the great news that King 



IN OLD NEW YORK 99 

Charles II had died, February 6th, 1685, and 
that the Duke of York reigned as King James 
II. 

Dongan at once issued a proclamation calling 
on the militia of the city and county to assemble 
in front of Fort James, April 23rd. King 
James was solemnly proclaimed, to the booming 
of the fort's guns, volleys of musketry and the 
acclamations of the people. In May the cor- 
poration prepared an address congratulating the 
King on his accession, wishing him " a long, 
peaceable and prosperous reign." About this 
time Father Henry Harrison, S.J., joined 
Father Harvey in New York. 

In September the Jews petitioned the Gover- 
nor " for liberty to exercise their religion." He 
recommended their petition to the corporation, 
which decided that no public worship was 
tolerated by act of assembly, except based on 
faith in Christ. There is evidence, however, that 
the worship of the Jews in their synagogue was 
never interfered with by the authorities. At this 
time the valuation of property in the city was 
placed by the assessors at £75,694. 

In compliance with writs for a new assembly, 
the elected delegates met in New York on the 
first Monday in October. It continued in 
session until November 3rd and passed six laws. 
It adjourned, to reconvene September 25th, 
1686; but instructions from London prevented 
it from meeting again. In honor of the sup- 
pression of the rebellion of the Duke of Mon- 
mouth in England and the Earl of Argyle in 
Scotland, November 20th was proclaimed a day 
of thanksgiving in New York by the Governor. 



100 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Under just laws, well administered, the prov- 
ince had grown and prospered. The population 
had increased to 20,000, living in twenty-four 
communities, and guarded bj^ 4,000 foot militia, 
300 horse and a company of dragoons. 

April 27th, 1686, was a red-letter day in the 
annals of New York city. On that day, in re- 
sponse to the petition of the corporation, tl"'^ 
Governor affixed his signature and the seal of 
the province to a new charter. This precious 
document can be seen in the City Hall at the 
present day. It has since continued to be the 
basis of the city's laws, rights and privileges, and 
show^s that its framers were " possessed of a 
broad and enlightened sense of the sanctity of 
corporate and private rights." To show its ap- 
preciation of the Governor's act in granting the 
charter, the corporation voted him £300, but it 
is a question as to whether this sum was ever paid. 

Charles Aubert De la Chesnaye petitioned the 
Governor to grant him a license to bring in his 
vessel from Quebec to New York beavers, 
peltries and other goods for the purpose of 
trade. The Governor granted the license. 

A new commission reached the Governor on 
June 10th appointing him the King's Captain- 
General and Governor-in-Chief over his " Prov- 
ince of New York and the territories depending 
thereon in North America." Large powers were 
given him, and he was instructed " to take all 
possible care for the discountenance of vice and 
encouragement of virtue and good living, that 
by such example the infidels may be invited and 
desire to partake of the Christian religion." 

On July 22nd a city charter was granted by 



IN OLD NEW YORK 101 

the Governor to Albany. During the summer 
Dongan held conferences with delegations of the 
Five Nations, and promised to assist them if 
attacked by the French. He sent trading parties 
to the Western tribes, and these gained valuable 
information and materials. His policy so exas- 
perated Denonville, who had succeeded De la 
Barre as Governor of New France, that he wrote 
to France: "I am disposed to go straight to 
Orange (Albany) , storm their fort and burn the 
whole concern." A radical change in the govern- 
ment of the province was brought about by 
letters of instruction from the King that reached 
Dongan from England, September 14th. They 
told him: "You are to declare our will and 
pleasure that said Bill or Charter of Franchises 
be forthwith repealed and disallowed." 

Further instructions directed that the Gov- 
ernor and council continue the duties and im- 
positions sufficient for the support of the 
government, and that all other laws, statutes and 
ordinances already made should continue in full 
force and vigor in so far as they did not conflict 
with the present instructions or any laws that the 
council thereafter passed. The prosperity of 
New York was safeguarded by prohibiting any 
invasion of the Hudson River trade by East 
Jerseymen or others, and providing that all 
goods passing up the river should pay duty in 
New York. 

Further instructions provided for encouraging 
the Indians to trade with the English ; to act 
prudently with the province's European neigh- 
bors, that they should have no just cause of com- 
plaint; that laws should be adopted for the 



102 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

punishment of masters who were inhumanely 
cruel to their Christian servants or slaves; that 
the willful killing of Indians and negroes should 
be punishable by death. Some historians relate 
that no printing press was allowed in New York 
by King James, but omit mentioning the quali- 
fication, " without your (Dongan's) special leave 
and license first obtained." About this time 
Father Charles Gage, S.J., joined Father Har- 
vey in New York. 

In his negotiations with the Indians of the 
Five Nations Dongan found his efforts to secure 
the allegiance and friendship of the red men 
thwarted by the influence and labors of the de- 
voted French Jesuit fathers, who, incompre- 
hensible as it seems to some people outside the 
Church, had not ceased to be patriotic subjects 
of the French crown when they became Jesuits. 
Through their labors and persuasions many of the 
Christianized Iroquois had formed a settlement 
at Caughnawaga. Dongan, in his overtures to 
the Iroquois, had urged them to draw back to 
New York the Caughnawaga Indians, and had 
promised to provide a tract of land for them at 
Saratoga, to build a church thereon and to bring 
over English Jesuits to minister to them. True 
to his promise, he arranged with the patentees of 
the Saratoga tract to occupy it, at least tempo- 
rarily, for an Indian settlement, and it was with 
a view to carrying out his promise that Fathers 
Harrison and Gage joined Father Harvey in 
New York to prepare themselves for the Indian 
mission. These priests were in Albany at differ- 
ent times during Dongan's administration, but 
the difficulty of mastering the Iroquois language 



IN OLD NEW YORK 103 

and the unsettled condition of affairs on the 
borders combined to defeat the Governor's 
project. 

Notwithstanding the Governor's and council's 
orders in the matter of holding free Spanish 
negroes and Indians in slavery, the abuse con- 
tinued, and in 1687 the Governor and council 
issued an order that " all the Christian Indyans 
and children of Christian parents brought from 
the towns of Campeachy and Vera Cruz, Mexico, 
and sold as slaves in this province shall be free." 
Later in the year Dongan proposed to the coun- 
cil some means for the release of Spaniards and 
other free people held as slaves, and he forbade 
those who claimed to be their masters either to 
sell or hide such persons pending their appeals 
for liberty. 

The Governor, February 22nd, 1687, sent to 
the Committee of Trade in London an ex- 
haustive and very able report on the condition of 
the province. In it he reported La Salle's voy- 
age down the Mississippi, and, with far-sighted 
statesmanship, pointed out the advantage pos- 
session of the great valley of the Mississippi 
would be to the French against the English and 
Spanish. He asked permission to send an ex- 
pedition from New York to ascend the river and 
take possession for the English crown. 

A grant of twenty-five thousand acres on 
Staten Island was made to John Palmer, March 
31st, and conveyed by him the following day to 
Governor Dongan. This estate was erected into 
" the lordship and Manor of Cassiltowne " in 
memory of his ancestral estate in Ireland. In the 
forests near by, the oak frame of a manor house 



104 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

M^as hewn and a gristmill, outbulidings and a 
hunting lodge were erected. The manor house 
was afterward externally modernized and stood 
until its destruction by fire a few years ago. 

About two hundred French Huguenot fam- 
ilies, driven from France and its possessions, 
settling in New York, had applied for letters of 
denization. The " bigoted papist " King James, 
in May, 1687, commanded that they should be 
welcomed and encouraged and that as full 
liberty should be given them to trade as was 
possessed by the King's native-born subjects. 

Notwithstanding the signing of a treaty of 
neutrality between the English and French 
monarchs, the troubled condition of affairs on 
the northern border continued. Governor Den- 
onville, despite the treaty, seized fifty Iroquois 
who had come in friendship to confer with him, 
and sent them to France to serve in the galleys. 
The land of the Senecas was invaded by the 
French, and several English trading parties from 
Albany were captured. In July and August 
Governor Dongan, aroused by the reports of 
French aggression, hurried to Albany, and on the 
5th of August he addressed a council of 
Sachems of the Iroquois and supplied them with 
arms and ammunition with which to defend 
themselves against French attacks. In Septem- 
ber John Palmer was sent to England to inform 
the King of the condition of New York affairs 
and the aggressive attitude of the French. 
Antoine Lespinard, on his return to Albany 
from a visit to his son, who was boarding in a 
Jesuit school at Villa Marie, on the island of 
Montreal, Canada, reported that the French 



IN OLD NEW YORK 105 

were preparing for a winter expedition against 
Albany and that they were determined to burn 
it because of the assistance given by the Enghsh 
to the Senecas. 

Such was the condition of affairs when Gov- 
ernor Dongan dehvered his ultimatum to Gov- 
ernor Denonville in which he demanded the 
return of all English prisoners ; an indemnity for 
all merchandise captured from trading parties; 
the immediate demolition of a fort erected by 
the French at Niagara, and that the Iroquois 
Indians sent to the galleys in France be sur- 
rendered as British subjects to the British Am- 
bassador in Paris or to the Secretary of State in 
London. To back up these bold demands a little 
army of about two hundred men, hastily raised in 
New York city and on Long Island and led by 
the gallant Governor, journeyed up the Hudson 
River to Albany. They found the people of the 
city in a state of panic, due to a rumored an- 
nouncement of the intention of the French to 
destroy Albany and Schenectady and send their 
inhabitants to Spain, Portugal and the West In- 
dies. About eight hundred friendly Iroquois 
were added to the strength of the garrison, which 
consisted of four hundred infantry and fifty 
cavalry. Fortifications were strengthened and 
increased. The French Fort Chambly was at- 
tacked by the Mohawks and Mohicans, who 
burned houses thereabouts, killed several French- 
men and took a number of prisoners, and it was 
feared that a storm would burst on the English 
settlements any day. 

Denonville, shortly after assuming the Gov- 
ernorship of New France, had dispatched a 



106 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

memoir on the state of affairs in Canada to 
Versailles in which he said: " The surest remedy 
against the English of New York would be to 
purchase that place from the King of England, 
who, in the present state of his affairs will, with- 
out doubt, require money of the King (of 
France). By that means we should be masters 
of the Iroquois without waging war." 

In this month Matthew Plowman, a Catholic, 
was appointed Collector or Receiver- General for 
the port of New York, but he found the prov- 
ince in an impoverished condition due to the 
stagnation of trade of all kinds because of the 
border troubles. John Palmer, Dongan's am- 
bassador to Whitehall, had convinced King 
James that the neutrality treaty was contrary to 
British-American interests. He induced the 
King to recognize the Iroquois as British sub- 
jects, and on November 10th Dongan was 
instructed to defend and protect them; to build 
forts wherever necessary and to employ the New 
York militia and call on neighboring English 
colonies for assistance. A complaint against 
Dongan from the French King induced poor 
distracted James, surrounded as he was by 
traitors and under life-long obligations to Louis, 
to agree to a proposal forbidding, until January 
1st, 1689, any English or French commander in 
America to commit acts of hostility against the 
territories of either sovereign. 

During January and February Dongan re- 
mained in Albany to watch the French. Early 
in March he sent Major Jervis Baxter down to 
New York with a message to the council bidding 
them consider ways and means to meet the extraor- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 107 

dinary expenses, amounting to £8,000, caused 
by the border troubles. The council decided 
that New York was unable to bear the burden 
alone and recommended that the other colonies 
be called upon to share the expense. On the 
28th, the Governor returned to New York dis- 
heartened by the financial conditions. To meet 
the expenses of the expedition to Albany he 
had pledged his personal credit, sold his plate 
and furniture and borrowed £2,000 from Robert 
Livingston, giving him a mortgage on his Staten 
Island estate to secure the debt. During the 
French troubles he expended <£10,000 of his 
private fortune. He wrote to the governments 
of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New 
Jersey for financial assistance. New England 
promised six hundred men. The only other 
response was from Lord Howard of Effingham, 
who sent ,£500 because of his appreciation of 
Dongan's ability. Out in the country, on Broad- 
way, between the present Maiden Lane and Ann 
Street, the Governor owned a beautiful garden 
with shady walks and a great stone summer 
house, and, no doubt, in these distracting times 
he sought relief among his beloved flowers and 
birds from the worry and turmoil of his office 
in Fort James. In May alarming reports of 
French activity were carried down the river, and 
the tireless Governor again journeyed north. 
Scouts were dispatched to the Iroquois Castles 
to watch the movements of the French, and bands 
of friendly lower river Indians were taken up to 
Albany. The Governor was authorized to call 
on the New England governments, if he deemed 
it necessary, for the six hundred soldiers prom- 



108 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ised. At the council meeting June 30th, it was 
ordered that a niihtary watch be kept in New 
York city, as privateers were reported off the 
coast. Wearied by his labors and disheartened 
by the financial condition of the province, yet 
satisfied with his efforts to defend and preserve 
the territory of his royal master, Dongan re- 
turned to the city of New York the last week in 
August and found in Fort James a letter from 
the King that told him the many enemies he had 
made by unwavering fidelity to his master had tri- 
umphed. He was notified that the King had 
decided to annex New Jersey and New York 
to the Eastern colonies and unite all, except 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, into the Dominion 
of New England. 

Sir Edmund Andros had been appointed Gov- 
ernor-General. Dongan was offered the com- 
mand of a regiment in the British army with the 
rank of Major-General of artillery, but subse- 
quently declined it. At the very moment when 
his fortunes were at their lowest ebb the blow 
fell. He had impoverished himself by his efforts 
to hold the vast and rich territory, that to-day is 
the Empire State, for his master. The last 
session of the council at which Dongan presided 
was held July 30th, 1688, and one of the last of his 
official acts was the promulgation of a procla- 
mation of emancipation releasing and sending 
to their homes " all Indian slaves within this 
Province subjects to the King of Spain that can 
give an account of their Christian faith and say 
the Lord's Prayer . . . and likewise them that 
shall hereafter come to this Province." 

Dongan received Governor Sir Edmund An- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 109 

dros and his staff, brilliant in scarlet and gold, 
August 11th. Colonel Nicholas Bayard's regi- 
ment of foot and troop of horse escorted the new 
Governor to the fort where the seal of the prov- 
ince was broken in his presence and the seal of 
New England ordered to be used in its stead. 
With the courtesy that distinguished him in his 
dealing with all men, Dongan remained in the 
city until his successor had departed and then re- 
tired to the shelter of his f arnJiouse on the shores 
of Lake Success, near Hempstead, Long Island. 
His bold ultimatum to Governor Denonville had 
borne fruit. The English traders taken by the 
French had been liberated, the surviving Iroquois 
prisoners were freed from the chains that bound 
them to the galleys in far-off France, and a large 
wooden cross and a few log houses were all that 
remained of the dismantled French fort at 
Niagara. 

The persecutions visited on James from the 
time he announced his conversion continued, cov- 
ertly, after he ascended the throne. His chief aim 
was to abolish the disabilities under which Catho- 
lics and dissenters groaned, and to establish 
Uberty of conscience throughout the realm. In 
industry and business ability, history concedes 
him to have been the ablest King that has ruled 
England. Surrounded by unwise friends and 
traitorous counsellors who, hastening him to his 
fall, were corresponding with his son-in-law 
William, Prince of Orange, James determined to 
ameliorate the condition of those who suffered 
persecution for conscience's sake and roused to 
fever-heat the bigotry of the people by seek- 
ing to compel the hierarchy of the Church 



110 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of England to read the Declaration of In- 
dulgence or liberty of conscience from their 
pulpits. Secret invitations were sent by open 
and secret foes of James to William to come to 
England in defense of the Protestant religion. 
The Prince of Orange landed at Torbay, No- 
vember 5th, 1688, and shortly after multitudes 
flocked to his standard, until James found him- 
self deserted by all save a faithful few. 

On December 11th, while endeavoring to 
escape from London, he was captured but finally 
made his way to France. Several attempts to 
reseat him on his throne were unsuccessful. 
Faults he had in plenty, but his latter years were 
saintly. His constant prayer was: "I give 
Thee, O my God, my most humble thanks, for 
that it hath pleased Thee to take from me my 
three kingdoms. Thou hast hereby roused me 
from the lethargy of sin, and brought me out of 
a miserable estate, in which. Lord, had I con- 
tinued, I should have been forever undone. I 
also thank Thee, O my God, for that it hath 
pleased Thee, out of Thine infinite goodness, to 
banish me into a strange land, where I have 
learnt the duties of Christianity and done my 
utmost to perform them." 

In his instructions to his son, drawn up by him 
while in Ireland in 1690, he wrote: " Serve God 
as a perfect Christian and be a worthy son of the 
Roman Church. Let no human consideration, 
of what nature soever, be capable to draw you 
from it. . . . Do j^our endeavour to estab- 
lish by a law, the liberty of conscience ; and what- 
ever may be represented to you about it, never 
leave that design until you have compassed it. 




KING JAMES n 



IN OLD NEW YORK 111 

It is a grace, and a particular favour, that God 
does them whom He enhghtens with his know- 
ledge, in calling them to the true religion ; and it 
is by mildness, instructions, and a good example, 
that they are won much more than by fear or 
violence. . . . Apply yourself principally 
to know the Constitution of the English Gov- 
ernment, that you may keep you and your par- 
liament each in due bounds, that become the one 
and the other. Further be instructed concerning 
the trade of the nation — make it flourish by all 
lawful means. It is that which enriches the 
Kingdom, and which will make you considerable 
abroad. But above all endeavour to be and to re- 
main superior at sea ; without which England 
cannot be secure." 

History will some day vindicate the memory 
of King James II and elevate him to the place 
to which his abilities entitle him. 



112 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER VIII 

HOW A GERMAN USURPER RULED WITH A HIGH 
HAND AND ENDED HIS CAREER ON THE GAL- 
LOWS 

While suspicion, discontent and treason were 
rife in England, the year 1688 passed quietly in 
New York, Andros, October 4th, left the city 
for New England, leaving Francis Nicholson, 
the Lieutenant-Governor, in command in New 
York. Owing to the heavy expenses necessi- 
tated by the defense of the northern frontier 
against the French and Indians, the provincial 
treasury was nearly empty, and little money 
was available for the repairing of Fort James, 
which was in a ruinous condition. Notwith- 
standing the money shortage, Nicholson had 
provided materials for repairing Fort James, 
and by an arrangement with Colonel Bayard, 
commanding the militia, the work had been 
divided into equal parts, and a part assigned to 
each of the militia companies of the city. De- 
spite the poverty of the province the people as a 
whole were contented and happy, although the 
consolidation of New York with New England 
and the news of the pro-Catholic tendencies of 
King James were sullenly resented. 

The condition of the churches under the 
Catholic King's government is evidenced by the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 113 

following extracts from letters of Pastors or 
Dominies of the Dutch Reformed Churches to 
the Classis, in Amsterdam. The Reverend Ru- 
dolphus Varick, of Flatbush, wrote, September 
30th, 1688: " As to my congregation, we live in 
love and peace with each other. It is fairly well 
regulated, is zealous in serving God, and increases 
daily." The Reverend Henricus Selyns, pastor 
of the church in Fort James, wrote, October 10th, 
1688: " I wrote to your Reverences on August 
24th, 1687, and then informed you of the exact 
condition and grateful prosperity of the Church 
of God in this place and in this vicinity." 

One day in the fall of this year Lieutenant- 
Governor Nicholson directed Andraes and Jan 
Meyer, workmen employed in the fort, to put 
themselves at the disposal of Father John Smith 
(Thomas Harvey) to remove the furniture and 
fixtures of the Catholic chapel to a better 
adapted and more commodious apartment in the 
fort and to arrange everything " according to 
his will." Nicholson was an Episcopalian, but 
no man thrown into the company of Father 
" John Smith " could resist the charm of his 
geniality and good humor and, simply out of 
friendship for the good priest, the courtly 
Lieutenant-Governor offered him better accom- 
modations for his chapel. That evening Andraes 
and Jan Meyer told all who would listen the 
story of their day's work, and how disappointed 
they were that the Catholic " idols " were not 
removed from the fort instead of into a better 
room. The story traveled from the fort to the 
bridge and from the bridge to the City Hall. 
It was discussed in Ned Buckmaster's tavern 



114 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and at many a supper table. A young man who 
had been in England insisted that Nicholson was 
a " Papist! " Had he not seen him with his own 
eyes, kneeling at mass in the King's tent on 
Hounslow Heath? Had not every shipmaster 
who had arrived lately from London brought 
news of the King's appointment of " Papists " 
to office, in violation of law, and of his efforts 
to give freedom of worship to " Papists? " 
Why, this was all part of a " Popish " conspiracy 
to crush out the Protestant religion! The ex- 
citement grew and the story grew with it and 
was carried about the town until it reached the 
ears of a considerable merchant of the city, in 
his fine brick house on or near the southwest 
corner of the present Whitehall and Pearl 
Streets. When this merchant, Jacob Leisler by 
name, heard it his brows contracted in a por- 
tentous frown because on the subject of the 
Pope and the Catholic faith he was a mono- 
maniac. As Jacob Leisler will enact a leading 
part in the history of New York, what is known 
of his earlier career may as well be told here. 
The authorities say that he was born in Frank- 
fort, Germany, but there are traditions that he 
was born in Switzerland and had a brother, a 
colonel in the Swiss service. It is also asserted 
that France was his native land. He sailed from 
Amsterdam for New York in the ship " Otter," 
April 27th, 1G60, a soldier in the service of the 
Dutch West India Company. He joined the 
Dutch Church in 1661, and April 11th, 1663, 
married Elsje Tymense, the widow of the 
wealthy Pieter Cornelissen Vanderveen. He 
assumed charge of Vanderveen's business, it 



IN OLD NEW YORK 115 

prospered under his management, and he was 
soon regarded as one of the principal merchants 
of the city. By this marriage he became con- 
nected with many of the aristocratic f amiHes of 
New York. Balthasar Bayard was his brother- 
in-law and his wife was the aunt of Van Cort- 
landt and Phillipse. Mrs. Leisler's brother, 
Jacob Loockermans, in 1679, conveyed to Leisler 
all his right to the estates, in New York, of his 
wealthy father Govert Loockermans and a 
relative, Dirck Cornellisen. 

In 1672, Leisler subscribed fifty guilders in 
goods toward the repairs of the fort, and in 1674 
the Dutch Governor Colve appointed him a 
commissioner of a forced loan. Leisler's fa- 
naticism brought him in conflict with the author- 
ities in 1676, The Reverend Nicholas Van 
Rensselaer, who had come out with Governor 
Andros in the " Diamond " and had been ap- 
pointed colleague of the pastor of the Albany 
church, was charged by Leisler with " false 
preaching " and of uttering " dubious words." 
Van Rensselaer was arrested, tried and acquitted, 
and Leisler and Milborne were ordered to pay 
all costs. 

While voyaging to Europe in 1678, Leisler 
was captured by Turkish corsairs, to whom he 
paid 2,050 pieces of eight, for ransom. His 
aversion to Catholics did not deter him in 1683 
from accepting an appointment as one of the 
Commissioners of a Court of Admiralty and a 
commission as captain of militia in 1684 from a 
Catholic Proprietor's Catholic Governor. In 
person Leisler was of medium height, robust 
frame inclined to stoutness, of austere visage 



116 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and addicted to long prayers. Historians, ac- 
cording to their prejudices, have given him all 
sorts of character ranging from saint to devil. 
The man was unquestionably honest in his deal- 
ings and in his purposes, his mind was vigorous, 
his temper ungovernable and vindictive, his 
vanity inordinate, and his whole nature and 
character were poisoned by his fanaticism. 

Andries Greveraet's sloop, from Virginia, 
dropped anchor off the fort February 5th, 1689, 
and the skipper, in accordance with custom, went 
to the fort to pay his respects to the commander. 
He was ushered into the presence of Nicholson, 
who asked him : 

" What news is in Virginia? " 

" Possibl)^ your Honor may have the same 
here," replied Greveraet. 

" We have heard that King James has un- 
doubted news of an invasion by Holland, nothing 
else." 

" The news in Virginia is that the Prince of 
Orange has landed with an army at Torbay, in 
England." 

"D — n you! What do you say?" shouted 
Nicholson in an outburst of passion. " Where 
is the King? " 

" I heard he was at Salisbury Plain," answered 
Greveraet. 

" There's burying place enough there for 
Orange and his people with him. Hath he not 
had an example of Monmouth? " 

" I cannot believe it. If it is so the very 
prentice boys of London will drive him out 
again. Don't dare to divulge this news to any 
one." 



IN OLD NEW YORK 117 

A week later the rumor of the Prince of 
Orange's invasion reached the ears of Jacob 
Leisler, whether through Greveraet or from the 
notorious, unfrocked Anghcan minister and 
rabid anti-Cathohc, John Coode of Maryland, is 
not known, but Leisler's knowledge of it doubt- 
less lighted the flame of the hatred that burned in 
New York for generations. It is even said that 
Leisler while on a trip to Maryland, about this 
time, heard the startling news from England. 
The early days of March brought a delegation 
and a letter from Governor John Blackwell, of 
Pennsylvania, confirming the tidings. In it he 
told Nicholson that he had examined, under oath, 
Zachariah Whitepaine, a sailor, who had left 
London in December, and who declared that the 
Prince of Orange had invaded England. At 
this time seventeen other letters addressed to 
people in the city were brought by the same 
messenger from Philadelphia. Nicholson, after 
consulting with his council, determined to open 
and read them, " for the prevention of tumult 
and the divulging of such strange news." Two 
of these letters confirmed Governor Blackwell's 
letter and were retained, the others were sent to 
the posthouse for distribution. 

That night a fast sloop sailed eastward up the 
East River and a swift horse galloped along the 
Boston Road, each bearing a messenger from 
Nicholson to Governor Andros, who, with Major 
Anthony Brockholls, was with the troops in 
Pemaquid defending the scattered settlements 
from Indian depredations. 

Nicholson knew the intolerent bigotry of the 
people with whom he had to deal and realized 



118 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the outburst that would follow the news that a 
Dutch Protestant Prince had invaded England. 
Matthew Plowman, the English Catholic, who 
had come to the province as the King's Collector 
of reyenues during Dongan's administration, still 
held that office. Nicholson and the council sent 
for Plowman and instructed him, because of the 
troubles they foresaw, to bring the public money 
to the fort for safe keeping. It was stowed in a 
strong chest and securely locked and sealed by 
the Collector pending instructions from London 
as to its disposition. There is a story extant that 
about this time a number of the true and tried 
supporters of the Stuart dynasty assembled in 
the cabin of the ship " Beaver," lying in the bay, 
and that the Jesuit, Father Harvey, solemnly 
administered to them the oath of allegiance to 
King James. 

The city w^as quiet until April 26th. On that 
day Ensign Vesey of Braintree, Massachusetts, 
arrived from the east with the astonishing news 
that a revolution had broken out in Boston and 
that Governor Andros, who had hurried thither 
from Pemaquid on receipt of Nicholson's mes- 
sage, had been taken into custody and im- 
prisoned. Nicholson immediately asked Mayor 
Stephen Van Cortlandt to call the Board of 
Aldermen and Common Council to meet in 
session with the Royal Councilors then in New 
York. The afternoon of the 27th, the chief 
officers of the militia w^re summoned. The 
session was characterized by perfect harmony. 
There was a rumor afloat that war w as imminent 
between France and England, and thoughts of 
the dilapidated and antiquated fort that must be 



IN OLD NEW YORK 119 

depended on to defend the city caused well- 
grounded uneasiness. Defenses was the first 
subject considered, and a strong committee, on 
which Jacob Leisler was named, was appointed 
to survey and determine on the vulnerable 
points to be fortified. As a result of the con- 
vention's action a company of the militia with 
colors flying and drums beating, marched • 
through the sally-port of the fort on the night 
of the 28th, and succeeding nights, to assist the 
garrison in keeping guard. That no hostile 
ships should slip unobserved through the Nar- 
rows a sentry paced the sands of Coney Island. 
To furnish funds for restoring the fortifications, 
the provincial, city and military authorities, in 
joint session, agreed that all revenues collected 
after May 1st should be expended for that 
purpose. 

One day a ship of Jacob Leisler's, laden witH 
a cargo of wine, was moored at the great dock. 
Leisler entered the manifest at the Custom 
House and the duty being computed footed up 
about £100. He positively refused to pay any 
duty on the ground that as Matthew Plowman, t 
the Collector, was a Catholic he, under the new 
order of things, could not hold the ofiice or re- 
ceive revenues. During the wrangle that fol- 
lowed this stand of Leisler's the wine was 
removed from the ship and stored in various 
cellars throughout the city. Others following 
Leisler's example, or instigation, took the same 
position, and revenue collection was at a stand- 
still. The town was by this time full of all kinds 
of rumors and secret conspirators were at work 
fostering the spirit of unrest. 



120 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The convention's committee on fortifications 
reported, May 3rd, that seventeen guns, without 
carriages, were scattered around the city and 
recommended that four of them should be placed 
near the widow Richardson's; three on the plat- 
form outside of the battery at the water gate 
of the fort ; three or four at the wharf at White- 
hall, Governor Dongan's house, built by Peter 
Stuyvesant; two on the wharf in front of the 
State House or City Hall. A messenger, 
covered with the dust of Long Island roads and 
weary with the fatigue of a long horseback 
journey, appeared before the council in the City 
Hall with the news of an uprising in Suffolk 
County. A meeting of the militia had been held 
in Southampton, May 3rd, at which a declaration 
signed by Captains Howell of Southampton, 
Wheeler of Easthampton, and Piatt of Hun- 
tington, had been adopted calling on the militia 
to proceed to New York city to secure the fort, 
" redeem " public funds and thus save them 
from " Popery and Slavery." The militia, 
eighty strong, marched all the way to Jamaica. 
The true reason for the ardent desire of these 
Suffolk County warriors to " redeem " the public 
funds from " Popery and Slavery " was that 
most of them had served in Dongan's expedition 
for the defense of Albany, and the impoverished 
condition of the provincial treasury had pre- 
vented their being paid. They evidently thought 
the time propitious for a " demonstration in 
force " to urge payment. When the Suffolk 
County messenger's story had been heard letters 
were sent to Colonel Young, of Suffolk County, 
and Major Howell to use every effort to pacify 



IN OLD NEW YORK 121 

the people, all of whom were restless because of 
the story of revolution that had reached them 
from New England. 

A rumor, started on the 6th, that a thousand 
French and a great horde of Indians had in- 
vaded the province from Canada caused a 
tumult and uproar in the city that not even an 
official denial could allay. On the same day a 
formal order passed the board ratifying a 
previous agreement that the revenues be em- 
ployed for fortifying the city. It is significant, 
in the light of subsequent events, that Jacob 
Leisler and several of his friends cast a negative 
vote on the proposition. Copies of the order 
were at once posted on the State House and 
bridge to assist in calming public apprehension. 

The Suffolk County contingent of unpaid 
veterans, all armed, was still at Jamaica demand- 
ing arrears of pay. The convention raised the 
money, paid them, and they departed for their 
homes rejoicing, but unfortunately for the 
officials there were many unpaid discharged 
soldiers in the city, and these, hearing of the suc- 
cessful demonstration of their Suffolk County 
comrades, organized a little demonstration of 
their own, and on the 10th poured in a body into 
the State House yard, or court, with angry 
shouts and cries demanding their pay. The 
provincial and city officers were in session at the 
time, and they were evidently alarmed by the 
tumult because they at once resolved " consider- 
ing the dangerous times " to grant pay orders 
to private soldiers and " each trouper 6lb." This 
was satisfactory and the veterans withdrew. 
Realizing that these popular demonstrations 



122 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

were not conducive to good order the convention 
adopted an ordinance to suppress all mutinous 
persons. 

A delegation of militia officers from Long 
Island appeared before the council next day, 
and informed it of discontent, suspicion, and 
jealousy, on Long Island. Letters were sent 
to Kings, Queens, and Suffolk Counties in- 
viting them to send one or two representatives 
to the convention, but no attention was paid to 
the invitation. 

Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson and the coun- 
cil addressed a letter on the 15th to the Principal 
Secretary of State in London giving a detailed 
account of the condition of affairs in New York 
and New England, and on the 18th John Riggs, 
bearing the letters, sailed for London on the ship 
" Beaver." On the same day George Wedder- 
borne arrived in the city from Boston with 
verbal instructions from Governor Andros to 
Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson, of the follow- 
ing tenor : 

That the news of the imprisonment of Gov- 
ernor Andros and the other gentlemen be com- 
municated to the members of the council. 

That Colonels Andrew Hamilton and William 
Smith be sent to Boston to demand the release 
of the imprisoned officials. 

That care be used to keep Albany quiet and 
conceal the imprisonment of Andros from the 
Indians. 

That a well-armed sloop, with provisions, be 
sent to Major Anthony Brockholls at Pemaquid 
with instructions to take back the soldiers from 
posts in that frontier section if required. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 123 

Colonels Hamilton and Smith were summoned 
before the council and the Governor's instruc- 
tions were communicated to them, but both de- 
clined to undertake the embassy to Boston, the 
former on the ground that he, as a Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas, must hold court in East 
Jersey and his absence would disturb the people ; 
the latter alleged that the people at his home in 
Setauket, Long Island, were restless and sus- 
pected him of being a " Papist," and if he left 
the place the mob might plunder his home and 
destroy his property. Fear of protracted in- 
carceration in the castle by the Boston authori- 
ties may have had some influence on the decision 
of the colonels. After deliberation it was 
decided not to send the King's bark with pro- 
vision for Brockholls at Pemaquid because the 
people were in a rage. The instigators to re- 
bellion had not been idle. The town buzzed 
and raged over the skillfully circulated stories 
that Staten Island was crowded with " Papists," 
who threatened to burn the city and massacre 
the inhabitants; that Irish Catholic soldiers were 
on the march from Boston to garrison Fort 
James; that Colonel Dongan had an armed 
brigantine lying in the bay ready for some war- 
like purpose. There were few Catholics in the 
city and fewer on Staten Island, and when the 
Irish Catholic army arrived from Boston it con- 
sisted of seven of Andros' discharged regulars, 
which brought up the strength of the fort's 
garrison to twenty-two, some of whom were de- 
scribed as " old cripples." 

To prepare for emergencies the council sent 
letters to the justices of the peace and military 



124 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

officers of Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford 
Counties, Connecticut, advising them of rumors 
of war with France (which really had been de- 
clared the day before) , and asking the assistance 
of their militia in the event of an attack on New 
York. At the general meeting or convention 
held in the City Hall on the 22nd, an ill-penned 
and unsigned petition was presented by Colonel 
Nicholas Bayard, commanding the city's militia, 
who had received it from a deputation of 
militiamen the night before. It contained "sev- 
eral jealousies and demonstrations of their 
disturbed minds," among them demands that all 
Catholics should be disarmed, and concerning 
Colonel Dongan, " who they desired might come 
and live in Towne as formerly and not depart 
this Government." The delegation that handed 
the petition to Colonel Bayard was sent for, but 
its members refused to appear and demanded a 
written answer or the return of the petition. 
Mayor Stephen Van Cortlandt was instructed 
to see the petitioners and request them to sign 
their petition, or send a representative to dis- 
course on it. The mayor yielded to them on all 
points except that relating to their eagerness for 
the society of Colonel Dongan, but they were 
not satisfied and reiterated their demand for a 
reply in writing or the return of the petition. 
The convention sent out Captains Leisler and 
Lodwick to harangue the petitioners, and they 
promised that two or three messengers would 
be sent down to Captain Bowne's house at 
Monmouth, where Dongan was staying, to urge 
him to return to New York " to remove all 
jealousies of his departure provided they doe 



IN OLD NEW YORK 125 

promise vpon Oath to their respective Captaines 
that they will doe no harme to his person." The 
incident is puzzling. Dongan was the ablest 
military commander in the province. Whether 
they judged it well to have him in custody be- 
fore springing their revolutionary plot or 
whether they desired to have him nearby to 
command them in the event of a French attack, 
is a matter of conjecture. 

Major Jervis Baxter arrived from Albany on 
the 27th, and asked the Lieutenant-Governor's 
permission to withdraw from the province on 
account of the people's enmity to him because he 
was a Catholic. Permission was granted and he 
left the city to join Colonel Dongan at Captain 
Bowne's. 

The long threatening storm burst on the 
night of the 30th. It was the turn of Captain 
Abraham Depeyster's company to mount guard 
in the fort. In posting his sentries Lieutenant 
Henry Cuyler ordered one of his men to stand 
guard at the fort's sally-port. The sergeant in 
command of the regulars objected that the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor had given no such orders. 
Nicholson, who was in the city at the time, re- 
turned about eleven o'clock, and the sergeant 
reported to him that a city militia officer had 
attempted to place a sentry at the sally-port but 
that he would not suffer it without the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor's order. Hurrying to his room, 
in a rage, Nicholson sent for Cuyler, who, being 
rather deficient in English, took Corporal Henry 
Jacobsen to Nicholson's room to act as in- 
terpreter. They found the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor preparing for bed. He ordered all from 
the room except Cuyler. 



126 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

"Who is commander in this fort, you or I? 
Why do you place a sentry without my leave? " 
demanded Nicholson. 

" It's my captain's orders," replied Cuyler. 

" I would rather see the town on fire or sunk 
than be commanded by you," shouted the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, in a rage. 

Cuyler stepped to the door to summon his 
interpreter, he said, but it may have been to seek 
assistance, for Nicholson was an ugly customer 
to face when in one of his rages. The corporal, 
a big burly fellow, entered, his sword over his 
left arm. Nicholson, seated on the side of his 
bed, was bent over unlacing his stockings. 
Hearing the step, he looked up and beheld the 
stalwart militiaman standing immediately in 
front of him. 

"Who called you here?" he cried. "Be- 
gone! " 

The corporal fell back a half dozen paces, 
halted, and stared at the Lieutenant-Governor. 

'" Go out of my room or I'll pistol you," 
shouted Nicholson. 

Striding to the rack on the wall he seized a 
pistol, cocked it and, aiming it at the corporal, 
forced him from the room and down the stairs. 
Cuyler followed. The hour was late, but the 
town was soon ringing with Cuyler's version 
of the incident. " The Lieutenant-Governor 
threatened to pistol Cuyler and his corporal and 
burn the town," was the story that spread before 
dawn from Fort James to Stuyvesant's bowery 
and beyond. 

Before noon the face of every burgher and 
his Jiuys vrow blanched with fear on hearing the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 127 

awful rumor that Nicholson had threatened to 
massacre all who attended the Dutch Church on 
the following Sunday, and then burn the town. 

" Why, this Governor and his council are 
nothing but rank Papists," passed from mouth 
to mouth; "something must be done to defend 
ourselves, our families and our city." 

The trouble breeders had done their work 
w^ell, so well that it is impossible not to suspect 
that it was done systematically, deliberately, and 
with the sole purpose of overthrowing the 
government. 

The crises came on the 31st. The General 
Committee or Convention met early in the after- 
noon. The Lieutenant-Governor spoke, de- 
ploring the factious and rebellious attitude of 
the inhabitants, and said that he was credibly 
informed that some of the militia officers were 
the instigators of the discontent. Speeches 
denouncing the malcontents met with general 
approval, and all present pledged themselves to 
uphold the government and the crown of Eng- 
land. It is significant that the last recorded 
attendance of Jacob Leisler at these meetings 
was on May 11th. During the afternoon the 
excitement in the city increased, and it was plain 
to all that an outbreak was imminent. The 
Lieutenant-Governor having been informed 
that most of the city militia was in a state of 
mutiny, and refused to obey the commands of 
the loyal officers, asked the Mayor to reconvene 
the General Committee. As soon as the Mayor 
had called the assembly to order the trouble be- 
gan. Lieutenant Henry Cuyler entered and, 
securing the floor, gave his version of his short 



128 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and violent interview with the Lieutenant- 
Governor in the fort the night before, charging 
the Lieutenant-Governor with threatening to 
pistol him and his corporal and burn the town. 
Nicholson emphatically denied Cuyler's version 
of the trouble. A heated argument ensued, 
which was terminated by the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor saying to Cuyler : 

" Go fetch your commission. I discharge you 
from being lieutenant any more." 

In anger Cuyler, his captain, Abraham De 
Peyster, and the ensign, left the room. Every- 
one in the council chamber was seized with con- 
sternation because all foresaw the evil conse- 
quences that would follow this rupture. The 
friends of De Peyster crowded around him and 
urged him to return with his subordinates, 
pointing out the dire consequences that would 
result from this breach. They were obdurate 
and, as they stepped through the doorway, a roar 
arose from the crowd and shouts of " Treason! 
Treason!" were raised. The drums of the militia 
added to the din and, as if by preconcerted plan, 
the crowd of militia and rabble poured from 
the yard and turned down Pearl Street in the 
direction of the fort. Constantly growing as it 
progressed, it swirled around the corner into 
Whitehall Street and stayed its progress in front 
of the Leisler house. JNIayor Van Cortlandt and 
Councilor Frederick Phillipse had left the coun- 
cil chamber and hurried after the mob. Mount- 
ing the stoop of the house near Leisler's, they at- 
tempted to address the crowd and allay the 
tumult and excitement, but their voices were 
drowned by shouts of : "Leisler! Leisler! We 



IN OLD NEW YORK 129 

are sold! We are betrayed! We will be mur- 
dered! It is time for us to look for ourselves! " 
Leisler refused to appear, the militia and mob 
swept forward toward the sally-port of the fort, 
Lieutenant Cuyler admitting them within the 
walls. The Mayor and Mr. Phillipse, discour- 
aged and dismayed, returned to the City Hall and 
related to their colleagues the scene at Leisler's 
house and the fort. When he heard the story 
Nicholson must have repented his error in not 
following the advice of Matthew Plowman and 
other loyalists to bring down the garrison of Al- 
bany, and, with other friends of law and order, 
take possession of the fort, and by training its 
guns upon the city overawe the lawless. 

The magistrates adjourned to William Mer- 
ritt's house and, while they were in consultation 
in an upper room, twenty armed men headed by 
William Churcher and followed by a rabble 
crowded into the apartment. 

" Give us the keys of the fort," demanded 
Churcher, " we shall and will have them, by force 
if necessary." Nicholson consulted with his 
colleagues and replied : 

" Let the officer in charge come. I'll deliver 
them to him." 

Satisfied with this reply, the crowd withdrew 
and the magistrates returned to the City Hall. 
Presently came to them Churcher and his men, 
and with them Captain Charles Lodwick. The 
bullying demand for the keys was coupled with 
the assurance that if they were not produced 
forthwith, " They would know what they would 
do." The magistrates, realizing the futility of 
further resistance, counseled Nicholson to sur- 



130 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

render the keys and he handed to Lodwick the 
key of the receptacle in which the various keys 
of the fort were kept. The chest in which 
Collector Plowman had deposited about £773 
customs duty and tax money was in the fort. 
Nicholson's council ordered its removal to Fred- 
erick Phillipse's house, but those in control of the 
fort refused to surrender it. 

Next day there was a reaction. Colonel Bay- 
ard, the commander of the militia, was asked to 
take sole command. To offset this, fresh rumors 
were circulated around the town, verbally and 
by written pamphlets, that Nicholson and his 
counsellors were " Papists," rogues and traitors. 
That night Leisler entered the fort, and assumed 
command the following day, Sunday, as it was 
the turn of his company to mount guard in the 
fort. He announced that the Protestant re- 
ligion and government were in immediate danger 
and that the inhabitants must meet " to sign 
and prevent the same." The militia companies 
were warned to come to the fort next morning at 
a certain signal and not to obey their officers 
if they attempted to stop them. Early on the 
morning of the 3rd, Captain Lodwick sent a 
message to Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson, who 
had found shelter in Frederick Phillipse's house, 
that an express had arrived from Long Island 
with the startling report that a squadron of four 
or five strange vessels, probably French war- 
ships, was inside Sandy Hook. The Lieutenant- 
Governor hastily summoned Mayor Van Cort- 
landt and Colonel Bayard. After a consultation 
the Mayor departed to canvass the city and find 
the messenger who brought the report, but could 



IN OLD NEW YORK 131 

find no one who had seen him. It was suspected 
that the tale about the strange squadron in the 
bay was manufactured for the purpose of creat- 
ing alarm and covering the designs of the 
usurpers. Before the Mayor had completed his 
search the boom of the fort's guns and the roll of 
the drums brought the militiamen and the rabble 
on a run to the plain or parade. Colonel Bayard 
and his loyal officers endeavored to calm the fears 
and tumult but were met with abuse, taunts and 
threats because the rumors about the approach- 
ing squadron had been industriously circulated, 
and the panic-stricken crowd fully expected to 
see a French fleet round Nutten Island and 
bombard the fort and city. Colonel Bayard at 
length succeeded in bringing the militiamen to 
a military formation and, after keeping the 
formation for some time and no enemy's ships 
appearing, he ordered to work the half company 
whose turn it was to labor on the fortification 
and dismissed the others. He inquired why the 
men of Captain Minvielle's company, whose 
turn it was for duty, had mustered in full 
strength instead of half the company and, 
Bartholomew Le Roux, stepping from the ranks, 
replied that it was related in the city that " Pa- 
pists " on Staten Island threatened to cut the in- 
habitants' throats, that the people had fled to the 
woods or had taken their families on boats, and 
that the " Papists " had threatened to burn New 
York, that Mr. De la Prearie had arms for fifty 
men in his house. Le Roux further asserted that 
he had positive information that eighty to one 
hundred men were coming from Boston and 
other places, " hunted away, no doubt, for their 



132 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

goodness." Several of them were Irish " Pa- 
pists," and the Governor designed to take them 
into the fort, which would not be permitted. 

" A good part of the soldiers now in the fort," 
continued the spokesman of the malcontents, 
" are Papists, and we think it not secure to be so 
guarded, and if half a company of the ten or 
twelve of our men should be permitted to guard, 
it would not be safe with the fort so weak. This 
very day there was a complaint that Colonel 
Dongan's brigantine, fitted out with a consider- 
able quantity of guns and ammunition, water 
and provisions, her whole loading no other than 
if she was designed for some warlike purpose, 
was suffered to depart the port without inter- 
ruption, and these reasons oblige us to come 
with the whole company to secure ourselves as 
best we can against the fears that are put upon 
us." 

Colonel Bayard, addressing the company, re- 
plied : 

" As to the matter of Staten Island it is false, 
for I have spoken with a boatman who came 
from Staten Island, and he informed me that 
all was peace and quiet on the island. As for 
Monsieur La Prearie, if you find more than two 
guns in his house I will give you <£20, and if you 
are afraid you shall go to-night and see, if you 
will, and I'll lend you my boat. As for Colonel 
Dongan's barkentine, I've been aboard her my- 
self and saw she was loaded with pipe staves and 
flour and designed for the Madeiras. As for the 
guns on the vessel, the captain told me they were 
for security against the Turks, and that if I 
would give security to redeem him and his crew 



IN OLD NEW YORK 133 

from captivity, if they were taken, he would 
leave the guns behind. Such security might cost 
me £3,000 to £4,000 if such a thing should fall 
out, and I would not venture it. The guns are 
his own, and I would take no man's goods by 
force; besides, the captain swears that if any 
board him he will cut them over the pate or knock 
their brains out. As for the other reasons, the 
Governor is an honest man, the Papists are few 
and insignificant, and you are unwise to fear 
them." 

The colonel's words were without avail and, 
instigated by Lieutenants StoU and Churcher, 
the militiamen surged through the sally-port of 
the fort, most of their officers reluctantly follow- 
ing them. Captain Gabriel Minvielle was so 
disgusted with the proceedings that he resigned 
his commission. Within the fort the mutinous 
soldiery disarmed the few Catholics in the 
garrison and drew up an address to William and 
Mary, setting forth that the fort was held for 
their Dutch Majesties pending the arrival of a 
ship bearing instructions for the government of 
the province. " Our late Governor, Sir Ed- 
mund Andros," recited the address, " executing 
a most arbitrary commission procured from the 
late King, most in command over us being bit- 
ter Papists; our Lieutenant-Governor, Captain 
Nicholson, although a pretended Protestant, yet 
contrary both to his promises and pretences, 
countenancing the popish party, denying to ex- 
clude both officers in the custom house and soul- 
diers in the fort, being most Papists, contrary to 
the known laws of England. ..." 

A sloop from Barbadoes for New York was 



134 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

hailed from a wherry off Coney Island, June 3d, 
and six men armed with muskets, forming the 
crew of the wherry, boarded the sloop and took 
the vessel up to the water gate of the fort. 
Lieutenant William Churcher and a file of 
militiamen took John Dishington, master of the 
sloop, into custody and conducted him into the 
presence of Jacob Leisler. Dishington handed 
to Leisler several papers and copies of the 
London Gazette, containing the Prince of 
Orange's proclamation, which were intended for 
Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson. That night 
Captain Charles Lodwick entertained a circle of 
cronies in the tap-room of Ned Buckmaster's 
tavern, reading to them the contents of 
Nicholson's newspapers. The same day Nicholas 
Gerry and Nicholas Delaplaine were conducted 
to the presence of Leisler for examination. 

Two days later Philip French, a well-to-do 
merchant, who had just returned from England 
by way of Boston, was aj^proaching the city on 
horseback. About a mile beyond the wall he was 
halted by a sergeant and musketeer. 

" Whence come you? " demanded the sergeant. 

" From Boston," answered French. 

" Then stand! " ordered the sergeant. 

"Why must I stand?" 

" You must stand because it is our order," 
commanded the sergeant, raising his halberd. 
" D — n you, do not speak one word more or I'll 
kill you!" 

" Why do you take me," asked French. 

" We heard that you were coming and were 
ordered to take you to the fort." 

In custody of the two soldiers French pro- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 135 

ceeded towards the city and stopped at Merritt's 
house to change horses and refresh himself. 
After warning him to hold no conversation with 
the inmates of the house, the soldiers waited for 
him without. 

" What if I had come another way into 
town? " inquired French of his captors when 
the journey cityward had been resumed. 

" You couldn't have come into town any other 
way without being taken, because there are sen- 
tries out all over." 

There was a crowd in front of the fort and 
musket and halberd were brought into play to 
secure an entrance. Leisler and Lodwick ap- 
peared and subjected Mr. French to a searching 
examination concerning the state of affairs in 
England. 

" Give me the key of your portmanteau," de- 
manded Lodwick. 

French produced the key and opened his port- 
manteau. Its contents were dragged forth and 
two letters, one addressed to Abraham De 
Peyster, the other to Major Anthony BrockhoUs, 
were found. 

" Swear him whether he hath not left any 
letters behind," suggested some of the people. 

" Who is here dare tender me an oath? " de- 
manded French. He was shortly afterward 
liberated. 

Nicholson's efforts to pacify the people failed, 
and, despairing of regaining control of the gov- 
ernment, he decided to sail for England in 
company with the Reverend Alexander Innes, 
late Anglican chaplain in the fort, who had been 
denounced as a " Papist," to report the condition 



136 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of affairs to the home government. On apply- 
ing to the various ship captains in port, they 
learned that feeling was so bitter against them 
that the captains refused to accept them as 
passengers. Nicholson appointed Royal Coun- 
cilors Phillipse, Van Cortlandt and Bayard to 
represent him and preserve the peace. On June 
10th, Nicholson instructed Collector Plowman 
to observe his commission and instructions con- 
cerning the collection of revenue, and asked 
Mayor Van Cortlandt to assist him. He caused 
careful statements to be made of all recent 
happenings within the province, and shortly 
afterward went down to Captain Bowne's house 
at Monmouth. He arrived there just as Don- 
gan's brigantine dropped anchor. Dongan had 
sailed for England, but a violent attack of sea- 
sickness had decided him to return and remain 
in America for a time. Nicholson purchased a 
third interest in the vessel, unloaded the cargo, 
put in twenty-five tons of logwood, and sailed 
for England June 24th. 

The denunciations of Mayor Van Cortlandt 
and Colonel Bayard as " Papists " became so 
general that the Reverend Hein'icus Selyns and 
the elders of the Dutch Reformed Church issued 
a certificate vouching for their staunch Prot- 
estantism. In compliance with Nicholson's in- 
structions to Collector Plowman, the customs 
officers were preparing to board a vessel just 
arrived from the Barbadoes, June 12th, where- 
upon a file of soldiers from the fort appeared on 
the scene and threatened to fire on them if they 
did not desist. The violence inseparable from 
such uprisings manifested itself on the same day. , 



IN OLD NEW YORK 137 

Militiamen, who from lack of sympathy for the 
overthrow of the government, failed to report 
for duty, were fined and distrained. Liquor was 
taken from Tudor Kinsland's warehouse, the 
house of John Crooke and Ned Buckmaster's 
tavern. Richard Jones' house was robbed by 
Leislerites, who came to distrain. Major Nathan 
Gold, with whom Leisler had been in corre- 
spondence, and Captain James Fitch, sent by 
Connecticut to advise the New Yorkers, arrived 
in the province on the 13th, and Van Cortlandt 
and Bayard, having been advised of their coming, 
hurried out to Colonel Morris's house on the 
Boston Road to meet them, but the visitors went 
direct to the fort. They handed to Leisler a 
letter from John Allyn, Secretary of Con- 
necticut, from which the following is an extract : 

" Genf" considering what you have don, we 
doe aduise that you Keep the forte tenable and 
well manned for the defence of the Protestant 
religion . . . and that you suffer no Ro- 
man Catholicke to enter the same, armed or with- 
out armes, and that no Romish Catholick be suf- 
fered to Keep armes w*4n that government or 
Citty " 

Major Anthony Brockholls and Ensign Brad- 
ford arrived by sloop from Boston on the 14th, 
and were taken into custody and escorted to the 
fort. Lieutenant William Churcher warning 
them not to speak to anyone. On the 21st they 
were liberated and sailed for Monmouth to con- 
fer with Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson. The 
next day the house of Anthony Farmer was 
surrounded by a mob of soldiers with drawn 
swords who shouted, "Popish dog and traitor! 



138 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

You are one of Bayard's crew, that Popish dog 
and traitor. Come out, we'll open your heart." 

Leisler had obtained from Gold and Fitch a 
copy of a newspaper containing a proclamation 
of the accession of William and Mary as King 
and Queen of England. On the 22nd, at noon, 
William and Mary were proclaimed at the fort 
to the roll of drums. Mayor Van Cortlandt and 
the royal councilors called on the Connecticut 
delegates and asked them for a copy of the 
proclamation, that it might be proclaimed at the 
City Hall, but they were told that Gold and 
Fitch had come " to the persons who had the fort 
in custody." An appointment was made between 
the parties for a conference at the mayor's 
house in the afternoon, and at the hour named 
Leisler, his captains and the Connecticut men, 
with an escort of halberdiers, marched to Van 
Cortlandt's home in Brouwer Street. 

" Will you proclaim the King and Queen? " 
demanded Leisler. 

" It's done already," replied the Mayor. 

" If you won't do it I will, at the Town Hall," 
said Leisler. 

" You can do what you please," retorted Van 
Cortlandt. 

There was an uproar on the instant. 

"He's a traitor! He's a Papist! He's Po- 
pishly affected!" were some of the epithets 
hurled at the city's chief magistrate. Gold and 
Fitch interfered and sought to calm the tumult. 
They asked the Mayor to accompany them to the 
City Hall, where they would proclaim their 
majesties. The Mayor asked for time to con- 
sult the aldermen. One hour was granted him. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 139 

The aldermen consented to attend the function, 
and the officers of the corporation were at the 
City Hall at the hour appointed. Leisler had 
marched into the yard at the head of De Bruyn's, 
Lodwick's and De Peyster's companies of 
militia. He demanded that the Mayor read the 
proclamation. 

" He that read it before the fort can read it 
here; I have no clerk," said Van Cortlandt. 

In a rage Leisler turned to the crowd that 
filled the open space in front of the building and 
shouted : 

"If it was to set up a tyrannical King or a 
Prince of Wales he would do it. You're a trai- 
tor! A Papist ! " he roared, facing the Mayor. 

A babel of hoots, groans and insults arose from 
the crowd. 

" Take hold of the rogue ! Papist ! Traitor ! " 
shouted the multitude. 

" He tells a false untruth," cried Van Cort- 
landt. " I do not hinder the reading or pro- 
claiming of their Majesties." Leisler's scheme 
of putting the Mayor in a false position had 
succeeded, and satisfied with his work he read 
the proclamation. When the usual ruffle of the 
drums and cheers of the crowd had ceased, Gold 
and Fitch, in an evident attempt to bring about 
a better state of feeling, linked arms with the 
Mayor and, despite his protests, insisted that he 
accompany the party to the fort to toast their 
Majesties. He allowed himself, unwillingly, 
to be persuaded. The sheriff and a little group 
of his friends accompanied him. After the 
King's health had been drunk a hot quarrel 
broke out, in which the sheriff was disarmed and 



140 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

roughly handled and the party, including the 
INIayor, was hustled from the fort. Outside, the 
inevitable crowd of loungers hooted and jeered 
them. Late that afternoon a slight fire was dis- 
covered in the turret of the church in the fort, 
under which the powder was stored. It was 
quickly extinguished, but afforded Leisler an 
opportunity to proclaim it a " Papistical design," 
thus adding fuel to the bigoted frenzy. His 
recognition by the Connecticut government, and 
success in proclaiming William and Mary, had 
inspired Leisler with courage and strengthened 
him in his position, facts that are evidenced by 
his constantly increasing assurance and aggres- 
siveness. The day following the publication of 
the proclamation Philip French and a party of 
merchants were discussing public affairs on the 
bridge. Leisler and his cronies came up to them 
and Leisler threatened to cane French. 

" You're a Popish dog and devil," he said to 
French. " You and forty Popish more caballed 
yesterday at Bayard's house. Before the week's 
end I'll secure you all." Mayor Van Cortlandt 
obtained a copy of the King's proclamation of 
February 14th, which contained a clause con- 
tinuing " all Protestants in office," and unaware 
that a proclamation had been issued five days 
later confirming all persons in their offices in the 
colony, the Mayor published the earlier procla- 
mation at the City Hall on the 24th. This en- 
raged Leisler, and he charged the royal council- 
ors, good consistent officers or members of the 
Dutch Reformed Church as they were, with be- 
ingly " Popishly affected because they would not 
recognize his authority." 



IN OLD NEW YORK 141 

At a meeting of the royal councilors, the 
mayor, aldermen and common council, held on 
the following day, Collector Matthew Plowman 
was summoned and, being a Catholic, was dis- 
missed from his office. A board of four — Paulus 
Richards, John Haynes, Thomas Wenham and 
Colonel Nicholas Bayard, was appointed to su- 
pervise and collect the King's revenues. They 
took the oath of allegiance and supremacy, as 
prescribed, to William and Mary, and notice of 
the appointments was affixed to the door of the 
little Custom House on the Water Side. That 
afternoon the commissioners met in the building 
to decide on some plan for managing customs 
affairs. They had been in session about half an 
hour when Leisler strutted in, accompanied by 
Ensign Joost Stoll and eighteen or twenty 
armed men of Captain Brown's company. 

" By what power or authority do you sit 
here?" demanded Leisler. 

"By the only authority their Majesties King 
William and Queen Mary have in this govern- 
ment, which you can see by the order fixed on 
the door," was the reply. 

Leisler went to the door, read the order and 
said: 

" The members of the council, mayor, alder- 
men and common council have no power or au- 
thority; they and you are all rogues, rascals 
and devils; you've created yourselves and you, 
Bayard, are Popishly affected, and you endeav- 
ored not above eight days past with two hundred 
men to retake the fort, and I challenge you to 
do it yet. Have you taken the oaths to their 
Majesties King William and Queen Mary? " 



142 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

" We know not of any authority you have," 
retorted Colonel Bayard; "if you have any it 
would be well to produce it, and though we are 
not bound to give you any account, yet we'll tell 
you that we have taken the oaths of allegiance 
and supremacy to their Majesties King William 
and Queen Mary, and you do very ill and are 
likely to answer before his Majesty for disturb- 
ing the peace of his Majesty's loyal subjects. 
Item, for endeavoring to subject his Majesty's 
government and for destroying the revenue by 
law established; but, since we see the sword 
rules, if you command us to depart the Custom 
House we will submit and forbear acting 
further." 

" No," replied Leisler, " I'll take a copy of 
that pamphlet on the door, consider on it and see 
what I have to do with such rogues and rascals." 

With that he and his bodyguard departed. 
Bayard noticed that the King's arms displayed 
on the building bore the letter "J," and work- 
men were summoned at once and replaced it with 
the initial of King William. No further busi- 
ness was transacted pending Leisler's answer. 
Two hours later he returned, in a rage, cursing 
and swearing: 

"You devils! You villains, you rogues!" 
he shouted. " You sat down under the arms of 
James, that Popish tyrant! I'm sorry I didn't 
see it; if I had I'd have run you all through with 
the halberd." 

" We had but just come to the Custom House 
before you entered," said Mr. Wenham, civilly, 
" and we have not yet acted, save to alter the 
letter in the King's arms. It's very strange thai 



IN OLD NEW YORK 143 

you are so forward to kill us for no fault, and 
you and your people permit to fly from the 
fort's flagstaff and march under the colors of 
the late King James, whose figures are to be seen 
to this very day in your colors. I desire that you 
desist from railing and cursing and be pleased 
to argue the matter moderately and civilly." 

This calm talk seemed to add fuel to Leisler's 
rage. Grasping his cane he threatened to strike 
Mr. Wenham and his associates, and in every 
action endeavored to incite his followers, some 
of whom were intoxicated, to open violence. 

" That thing on the door," he roared, " is a 
pamphlet, and a scrawl, made in a meeting like a 
Quaker's meeting in a chimney corner. You 
assumed power to create yourselves, and you're 
all villains and rogues without authority." 

"By what authority do you come here to 
question the commissioners?" demanded Mr. 
Wenham. 

" By the authority of the choice of the people 
of my company," replied Leisler. 

" Where the King and his power and law are 
in force no such choice and authority of the 
people is of any force or virtue," said Mr. Wen- 
ham. " Yet, since you come with swords and 
staves and deny any civil government of his 
Majesty here, we are still ready to submit if you 
command us to depart." 

The calmness of the commissioners exasperated 
the Leisler people beyond control. As Mr. 
Wenham ceased speaking Ensign Joost Stoll 
sprang at him, seized his neckcloth and dragged 
him into the street. Outside he was set upon by 
a howling mob that had gathered, and was beaten 



144 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and bruised. Three or four bystanders who 
voiced their disapprobation of the riotous pro- 
ceedings were Hkewise attacked and beaten. 
iThe other commissioners, fearing for their Hves, 
endeavored to escape. As Colonel Bayard came 
from the building he was confronted by Leisler, 
who shouted: 

"I'll be the death of you! I'll run you 
through! I'll cudgel you with my cane! " En- 
sign Stoll, with a dagger, lunged several times 
at Bayard and cut his hat brim in two places. 
The crowd surged forward and, in the confusion, 
Bayard took refuge in the house of Peter De la 
Noy, next door to the Custom House. Catching 
sight of him as the door was closed behind him 
the rabble, shouting " Treason ! Treason! The 
rogue will kill Captain Leisler! " crowded around 
De la Noy's house, battering the door with their 
firearms and threatening to storm and wreck 
the building. To add to the uproar and con- 
fusion, some of the drummers of the train bands 
beat the alarm, and from all directions the people 
hurried until the street was filled with the mob. 
Fearing the crowd would storm the house. Bay- 
ard escaped through the rear and reached a 
place of safety. The other commissioners es- 
caped without further injury. A gun shot at 
Colonel Bayard's slave while he was at work in 
the Colonel's garden and the threats of Leisler 
and his adherents to have Bayard dead or alive, 
with warnings of an intention to plunder his 
house, induced the Colonel to fly to Albany 
June 28th. Leisler, having routed his foes from 
the Custom House and thus gained control of 
the collection of revenues, appointed Peter De 



IN OLD NEW YORK 145 

la Noy and George Brewster his commissioners. 

Conscious of the necessity for some semblance 
of authority for his usurpation, Leisler issued a 
call to the counties and towns of the province to 
send two delegates to a convention to be held in 
New York city June 26th. Suffolk, Albany 
and Ulster counties ignored the summons. Suf- 
folk County petitioned Connecticut to take the 
county under her jurisdiction because the people 
"distrusted the purity of his (Leisler's) mo- 
tives." Not a third of the inhabitants of the 
province voted. There were twelve delegates 
present at the opening of the convention, two of 
them withdrawing on learning that the main 
purpose of the meeting was to set up Leisler as 
Commander-in-Chief. The remainder organized 
themselves into a " Committee of Safety," and 
signed a commission appointing Leisler: " Cap- 
tain of the fort at New York." Leisler's 
enemies asserted that this document was signed 
under duress of a threat from Leisler that if it 
was not signed " he would depart the place in 
one of his vessels and turned privateering." 

By authority of this commission he seized the 
public funds, cleared vessels and organized, 
later, a company of soldiers, to which Connecticut 
contributed ten men and two cannon. All 
Catholics were disarmed, and everyone who re- 
fused to recognize Leisler's authority was 
denounced as a " Papist." The fort's name was 
changed from James to William. Before de- 
parting for home the Connecticut delegates 
gave out the following advice: " That no papist 
be suffered to come into ye fort ; let not ye warn- 
ing given that day ye Ma*^^^ was proclaimed, be 



146 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

soon forgotten by you, wherein ye terretts in 
ye fort was fyred in three places, under which 
roufe lay yor ammunition, soe hellishly wicked 
and cruell a papisticall design to have destroyed 
you & us and ye fort & towne it made our flesh 
to tremble. High praise unto Almighty God 
that you & we, fort & city, were preserved." A 
detail of eighteen men sent by night to subjugate 
" Papist " infested Staten Island and seize all 
arms found therein, returned with four guns, 
unearthed in a millhouse on Colonel Dongan's 
Castleton estate. Leisler set to work with vigor 
repairing the fort, enlisting even the children by 
engaging them to gather stones for use in the 
works. To procure stones for the fortifications, 
Leisler's soldiers, with colors flying and drums 
beating, marched up Broadway with the intention 
of pulling down a stone pigeon house in Colonel 
Dongan's garden, but were prevailed upon to 
desist by an ofl'er of fifty cartloads of stone. 
They also proposed pulling down the wall and 
stairs of James Graham's house, but were bought 
off with thirty-six cartloads more. 

The Mayor's Court was to convene July 2nd, 
but Leisler sent word to Paulus Richards that 
if the court sat the people would haul the magis- 
trates by the legs from the City Hall. The city 
fathers deemed it advisable to adjourn for a 
month. On July 10th, Leisler wrote to William 
Jones, of New Haven: "I hope before two 
days to one end to have some papists disarmed 
& also those I dolls destroyed which we heare are 
dailly still worshipped." 

Of the Jesuits who came to New York during 
Governor Dongan's administration. Father 



IN OLD NEW YORK 147 

Henry Harrison seems to have been in the prov- 
ince during 1685; Father Charles Gage during 
1686-7; while Father Harvey, "John Smith," 
who, it will be recalled, came to New York with 
Dongan, was at his post of duty when the gov- 
ernment was overthrown. The allusion in 
Leisler's letter would indicate that Father Har- 
vey had saved the sacred vessels of the altar, and 
it is known that he found an asylum and hiding 
place for some time in the house of William Pin- 
horne on Broadway. For this act of charitable 
hospitality Judge Pinhorne, who occupied many 
important offices during his career both in New 
York and East Jersey, was taunted in after years. 
Word reached Leisler August 2nd that Sir 
Edmund Andros had escaped from his Boston 
prison and that Dongan, who was in New 
London, had gone to meet him. Leisler feared 
a " bad design " and Major Patrick Mac Greg- 
orie, a Scotchman, who had been loaded with 
favors by Dongan, offered his services to Leisler 
to go with a guard and bring his late patron a 
prisoner to New York. Andros was recaptured 
and imprisoned in Boston. Ensign George 
Russell and James Larkin, the latter of whom 
had been in charge of the Custom House and 
granary under Governor Dongan, both Catho- 
lics, met in New York and drank the health of 
King James, Larkin asserting that King James 
was in Ireland and that Protestant, Scotch and 
Irish, had joined his army. They were seen and 
overheard. Bussell escaped, but Larkin was 
arrested and arranged before Leisler's Council 
of War. He was paroled on his pledge of good 
behavior. 



148 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Captain George McKenzie, one of the pro- 
prietors of East Jersey, bearing letters from 
Albany to Nicholson's friends in New York, and 
aware of the overthrow of the government, 
landed from a sloop at night near the water 
mills, west of the fort. He succeeded thereby 
in saving his letters, but was arrested two days 
later and subjected to an examination by Leisler 
and two of his counselors in the fort. Leisler 
handed him a letter and asked if it was his hand- 
writing. McKenzie admitted that it was. The 
letter was from McKenzie in reply to one from 
Colonel Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Governor of 
Pennsylvania, in which Hamilton, whose wife 
was ill, asked if it M^ould be safe to take her to 
New York for medical treatment. In his reply 
McKenzie wrote that Leisler had threatened to 
send a company of militia to take Hamilton a 
prisoner to New York in retaliation for Ham- 
ilton's having arrested and examined a detach- 
ment sent by Leisler to Jersey. McKenzie 
wrote : "I would not advise you to come up 
nor do I think it convenient to ask Mr. Leisler's 
leave, for by that means you will seem to confess 
yourself in fault, and if he should grant leave I 
would not advise you to take his word, for I 
should not take it in a thing of less moment. . . ." 
After reading it Leisler said to McKenzie: 

" I wonder what wrong I have done you that 
you should write so of me to wrong my credit. 
If I knew I had done you any wrong I would 
ask pardon for it on my knees." 

" If I did you any wrong," replied McKenzie, 
" I would beg yours. I was provoked first by 
you calling me a Papist, for so I was told." 



IN OLD NEW YORK 149 

" That's a very great lie," responded Leisler. 
After a pause he continued, frowning darkly, 
" I know you are Popishly aifected." 

" That's not true," retorted McKenzie. " I 
am as much a Protestant as you or any man in 
the country." 

" Why," said Leisler, " didn't I hear you call 
Father Smith [Reverend Thomas Harvey, S. J.] 
a very good man? " 

" Yes," answered McKenzie, " and so I do 
still. He is a very good-humored man, but I 
never called him so because he was a Papist, and 
I was so far from having any friendship for his 
principles that in all the six years I have known 
New York I never, so much as out of curiosity, 
looked into their chapel." 

" You kept with Doctor Innes [the Church 
of England chaplain in the fort]. " You went 
to hear him and prayed with him ; he is a Papist," 
said Leisler. 

" That's not true," retorted McKenzie. 

" I have one who swears it." 

" I will not believe it if ten of them swear it." 
There were many more questions and answers, 
assertions by Leisler, contradictions and denials 
by McKenzie. At length Leisler said : 

" You may call me what you please. I will 
pray God to bless you." 

" I will pray God to bless you," responded 
McKenzie, who quaintly adds : " In which holy 
sort of compliment we continued a pretty while 
until I was civilly dismissed." 

Concerning the condition of aifairs in New 
York at this time, Matthew Plowman wrote Lord 
Halifax: " Ye Siville powar thay doe what tay 



150 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

please with & foe for his Ma*^^^ revenues in 
Generall absolutely deny pay* and noe remedy 
but worse and worse." 

The fort's dungeons were filling up. On the 
14th, Thomas Clark, a merchant, was taken from 
a bed of sickness by an armed posse, without a 
warrant, charged by Leisler with saying: " The 
next time the drums beat an alarm he could raise 
four hundred men." Two days later William 
Merritt, Jacob De Key, Brandt Schuyler, Philip 
French, Robert Allison, William Merritt, Ed- 
ward Buckmaster, and Derick Vanderburgh, 
most of them persons prominent in the com- 
munity, were violently taken to the fort and 
committed to the dungeons. The following day 
John Tuder, who had a quarrel with Lieutenant 
Henry Cuyler on the streets, joined the others 
in the fort's dungeons. 

Perry, the postman, accompanied by three 
students and two attendants from the school at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, crossed the river on 
the Brooklyn ferryboat on August 16th. When 
the boat touched the New York shore a detach- 
ment of Leislerites promptly arrested the New 
Englanders and denounced them as " Papists." 
Their letters were seized and read. The fort's 
drummer sounded the alarm and more than five 
hundred of Leisler's army assembled: " courage- 
ously in arms." The students, having given a 
satisfactory account of themselves, were released. 
This dire danger to the " Protestant cause " was 
seized upon as a pretext by the " Committee of 
Safety " to make Leisler Commander-in-Chief. 
Ensign Joost Stoll and Matthew Clarkson sailed 
for London on the " Bordeaux " packet the 



IN OLD NEW' YORK 151 

20th, bearing letters from Leisler to William 
and Mary, notifying them that Leisler had been 
chosen captain of the fort, but concealing his 
having been commissioned " Commander-in- 
Chief of the Province." 

Jacob Milborne, a former resident of New 
York, brother of a prominent Anabaptist min- 
ister of Boston, a quarrelsome, litigious person, 
formerly a business partner of Anthony Brock- 
holls, arrived from Europe on the 25th, and at 
once espoused the cause of his old friend Leisler. 

" In the middle of May last," said Milborne, 
" I was in England, where all things were settled 
by the common voice of the people in peace, 
under King William, who was an elective King 
and had submitted his regal power wholly to the 
people, so that it was now become a maxim ' vox 
populi, est voce dei, and the King was only a 
servant of his people." On hearing this the 
Leislerians were greatly heartened and argued 
that they had as much warrant for what they had 
done in New York as had the Prince of Orange 
for his acts in England. 

There were warlike demonstrations among the 
Indians on the Northern borders, and, Sep- 
tember 4th, an express from Albany arrived at 
the fort asking for men, money and ammunition. 
The Albanians, having refused to recognize 
Leisler's authority, he declined to aid them and 
requested the messenger to notify them to send 
two delegates to his " Committee of Safety." On 
the 20th, the Albanians not having responded to 
his request, he sent three sloops full of armed 
men, under command of Jacob Milborne, to re- 
duce the city. The attempt failed. 



152 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Leisler, on the 28th, wrote to the Maryland 
Assembly that some Maryland " Papist gran- 
dees " were supposed to be in the vicinity of New 
York seeking an interview with Colonel Dongan, 
who had been in Rhode Island, but " is now in 
these parts again, he hes ranged all the country & 
is mett daily by severall where it may be also they 
may come, I shall omit nothing if I heare of them 
to secure them. , . ." Despite the procla- 
mation of William continuing all colonial officials 
in their places, Leisler ordered the counties to 
elect civil and military officers. Most of the 
counties ignored the order; in others, few but 
Leislerians voted. In Leisler's home ward con- 
siderable disorder prevailed. Leisler's son-in-law, 
Robert Walters, was a candidate for alderman. 
Leisler entered the polling place and challenged 
Major Anthony Brockholls's vote, although he 
was a considerable freeholder in the ward, on the 
ground of his being a " Papist." 

When Leisler voted he said : 

" I vote for my son-in-law Walters, my son 
Jacob votes for his brother-in-law Walters, and 
my son Walters votes for himself. That's 
three, put them down." 

Walters was declared elected. 

Early in October Leisler ordered a municipal 
election for Mayor and Sheriff in violation of 
the charter, which provided for the appointment 
of these officials by the Governor and council. 
Protestant freeholders only were permitted to 
vote, and not more than eighty availed themselves 
of the privilege. Peter De la Noy was declared 
elected Mayor and Johannes Johnson Sheriff. 
Leisler's persecution of Mayor Van Cortlandt 



IN OLD NEW YORK 153 

became so unendurable that, fearing for his life, 
he left the city. A detail of soldiers went to his 
house on Brouwer Straat, demanded the muni- 
cipal records and seal and insulted Mrs. Van 
Cortlandt. 

The Connecticut authorities had evidently con- 
cluded that Mr. Leisler was not a desirable ally, 
because, October 10th, Secretary Allyn wrote, 
calling home the Connecticut soldiers loaned for 
the defense of Fort William. 

One of the many informers with which the 
city was infested, whispered to Leisler that there 
were many people entering and leaving the house 
of a certain Catholic. Leisler, sure that he had 
run to earth " the Papist grandees " from Mary- 
land, sent a company of soldiers, who broke into 
the house at night, but found no one except the 
householder and his family. He was disarmed, 
arrested, dragged to the fort and subjected to 
one of the cross examinations of which the 
Captain was so fond. Tidings had reached Bay- 
ard in his retirement that his son was very ill in 
New York. His paternal feelings prompted 
him to return home, and he wrote to the justices 
of the peace volunteering to answer any charge 
that might be brought against him. The 
magistrates replied: " The sword now rules in 
the city," and they were powerless to protect him 
against Leisler. He wrote to his former regi- 
mental officers protesting against Leisler. The 
letter was handed to Leisler, and to neutralize its 
effect he gathered his adherents from the city. 
Kings and Bergen (N. J.) counties in the fort 
and assured them that Lieutenant-Governor 
Nicholson was a "Popish dog," that he had be- 



154 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

come a privateer, and would never show his face 
in London again. He further assured them that 
he had discovered a plot concocted by Bayard 
to take the fort with three hundred men. Fol- 
lowing these revelations the assemblage renewed 
their fealty to the " Committee of Safety " and 
the " Commander-in-Chief." 

At this time Colonel Dongan, who was living 
quietly on his farm in Hempstead, was charged 
with " holding cabals at his hoaise and other 
places adjacent, to make an attempt on the fort." 
Subservient tools of Leisler's were put in the 
places of officials opposed to him. Domiciliary 
visits were made everywhere in the hope of 
capturing Bayard and Van Cortlandt, not even 
Dominie Selyn's parsonage being exempted. 

November 4th and 5th were gala days. On 
the 4th, the anniversary of King William's land- 
ing at Torbay, the sky was crimson with huge 
bonfires, and a great barbecue was held on the 
parade. The following day was Guy Fawkes' 
day, and again the bonfires lighted up the city, 
while the mob dragged through the streets an 
effigy of the Pope. Leisler's ambassadors to 
Whitehall, Ensign Joost Stoll and Matthew 
Clarkson, were not well received at court, owing 
to the presence of Lieutenant-Governor Nichol- 
son, and the Reverend Alexander Innes, al- 
though Clarkson was appointed Secretary of 
New York. 

November 9th, John Riggs, a messenger from 
England, arrived in New York. He was met by 
a squad of soldiers and hurried to the fort. The 
Royal Councilors Phillipse and Van Cortlandt, 
surmising that Riggs bore instructions from 



IN OLD NEW YORK 155 

London, presented themselves at the fort. Riggs 
had a packet addressed to Lieutenant-Governor 
Nicholson or in his absence " to such as for ye 
time being take care for ye preservation of the 
peace, etc." The court and Nicholson expected 
that the packet would be delivered to the royal 
councilors, to whom the latter had confided the 
government. Leisler peremptorily demanded 
the packet, Phillipse and Van Cortlandt also de- 
manding it. Leisler became possessed of it and 
drove the royal councilors from the fort, de- 
nouncing them as " Popishly affected dogs and 
rogues." The King's letter was shown only to 
Leisler's adherents. On the following day he 
assumed the title of Lieutenant-Governor of 
New York and caused William and Mary to be 
proclaimed anew. His possession of the King's 
letter emboldened Leisler, and thenceforth he 
became more despotic and overbearing. He sent 
a detail of seven soldiers to Elizabethport, which 
seized fifty barrels of beef and pork belonging to 
Matthew Plowman on the pretext that Plowman 
was indebted to the government and was an ab- 
sconder. Plowman, in defending his property, 
assaulted a justice of the peace, and for this 
" rioutous " conduct and " other scurillous and 
contemptous expressions against the King's 
magistrates " a warrant was issued for his arrest. 
His beef and pork were shipj^ed to Albany to 
feed the men of Leisler's expedition. Plowman 
secured the names of the foragers and in quieter 
times sued them individually in the Richmond 
County Court of Sessions for the value of his 
merchandise. 

Leisler had frequently denounced the act of 



156 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the assembly fixing the customs and excise 
duties, passed in 1683, as null and void, notwith- 
standing which he, on December 16th, ordered 
that they remain in force and that the duties be 
collected, and he caused a copy of his procla- 
mation to that effect to be affixed to the door of 
the custom house. The people protested ve- 
hemently against this edict, and during the night 
it was torn down and a paper left in its place, de- 
nouncing the proposed collection of duties as 
illegal. Leisler thereupon posted another procla- 
mation forbidding any one to deface or disturb 
the pronunciamentos " affixed by authority." 
Two boys, Jacob DeKey and Cornelius Depuy- 
ster, and a slave of Philip French's were arrested, 
charged with tearing down the orders, and were 
confined in the fort. Philip French publicly 
protested against the arrest of his slave, and a 
sergeant and detail of six musketeers seized him 
by the arms and legs and carried him to the fort. 
He retained two eminent attorneys, John Tuder, 
and James Emmott, but a writ of habeas corpus 
obtained by them was ignored by Leisler, and 
French obtained his liberty on January 12th by 
petitioning Leisler as " Lieutenant-Governor " 
to liberate him, in addition to giving a bond of 
£500 for future good behavior. Leisler ap- 
pointed Jacob Milborne, secretary of the province 
and clerk of a council consisting of eight of his 
chief adherents. On Sundays he occupied the 
Governor's pew in the old Dutch Church " with 
a large carpet before him," and his councilors 
sat in the council's pew. He caused the proprie- 
tory seal of the Duke of York to be remodeled 
and adopted it, thus usurping a royal prerog- 
ative. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 157 

January, 1690, found him firmly intrenched in 
power. He commissioned courts of Oyer and 
Terminer and a Court of Exchequer to try those 
charged with infractions of his customs and ex- 
cise orders. Tidings reached the city from 
Boston early in the month that King William 
had ordered those in command in Massachusetts 
to send Sir Edmund Andros, Secretary Ran- 
dolph, and their associates in custody, to London. 
Bayard, Van Cortlandt, NicoUs and others wrote 
detailed accounts of the condition of affairs in 
New York and sent them to Colonel Lewis 
Morris to give to John Perry, the Boston post 
rider. Fearing the effect of any revelations of 
the condition of New York affairs in England, 
Leisler announced that he had discovered a 
" hellish conspiracy against the king's govern- 
ment in New York," and sent Daniel Ternure 
and a squad of men to arrest Perry; he was 
taken into custody on the Boston Road shortly 
after leaving the Morris house. He was hurried 
to the fort, his mail pouch rifled, the letters read, 
and he was locked in a cell. Because of the facts 
set forth in the letters, warrants were at once 
issued for Nicholas Bayard, Stephen Van 
Cortlandt, Anthony BrockhoUs, Peter Morris, 
William Nicolls and Robert Reed for " writing 
execrable lies and pernicious falsehoods." " I 
am invested with such power," boasted Leisler, 
" that in a little time I can command the head 
of any man in the province, and it will be forth- 
with brought." In the afternoon of January 
21st, Lieutenant William Churcher, a squad of 
militiamen and a party of civilians, proceeded 
from the fort to Bayard's house on High Street. 



158 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The front door of the house was smashed in 
with musket butts and the house was searched, 
but Bayard had escaped to the house of Rich- 
ard EUiott, a cooper, in the rear. Elliott's 
house was forcibly entered. Bayard was seized 
and dragged to the fort. Mayor Van Cortlandt's 
house was broken into, but Van Cortlandt had 
fled. That evening William NichoUs was ar- 
rested at the Brooklyn ferry and taken to the 
fort in company with the ferryman's wife who, 
no doubt, had attempted to prevent his capture. 
The distinguished prisoners were thrown into the 
most noisome dungeons in the fort and Bayard, 
loaded with chains, was seated in a chair and car- 
ried around the ramparts, an object of derision 
for the mob. Ill and dejected he begged Leisler 
for freedom petitioning him as " Lieutenant- 
Governor," but without result. Bail in any sum 
was offered and refused and for thirteen months 
Bayard and Nicholls remained in the fort's 
dungeons. One of the crimes with which Bay- 
ard was charged was his written allegation that 
Leisler had offered one Matthias, a servant of 
Sir Edmund Andros, four crowns and support 
during his lifetime if he would swear that Sir 
Edmund was a " Papist." 

The city was amazed and horrified on February 
15th on receipt of the news that a French war 
party from Canada had surprised the village of 
Schenectady, massacred most of the inhabitants 
and destroyed the settlement. Leisler instantly 
" made an alarm," charging Bayard and his 
party with being the cause of the massacre. He 
disarmed and imprisoned about forty officers who 
held commissions from Andros and seized one 



IN OLD NEW YORK 159 

hundred and fifty commissions. Warrants were 
issued for Dongan, BrockhoUs, Plowman, Colo- 
nel Thomas Willett, Captain Thomas Hicks and 
Van Cortlandt. The same day a general warrant 
was issued: " Fearing too great a Correspond- 
ency hath bean maintained between ye ff rensch & 
disaifected P'sons amongst us," for all " reputed 
Papists," those who despised or reflected against 
" Lieutenant-Governor " Leisler, or who had 
held commissions from Colonel Dongan or Sir 
Edmund Andros. The warrant for Colonel 
Dongan read: "These are in his Majesties 
Name to will and require you to Secure ye Body 
of Colonell Thomas Dogan w*^ a Safeguard 
^rthjj^ his owne howse." Willett, Hicks, White- 
head and Antill were to be taken to the fort. On 
the twenty-first other warrants went out from 
the fort for Dongan, Van Cortlandt, Brock- 
hoUs and Plowman. Word of the issuance of 
these warrants had reached Dongan at Hemp- 
stead, and when the Leislerites reached the house 
on the shore of Lake Success it was empty. 
Dongan had passed over to New Jersey and 
sailed thence for Boston " to be quiet." 

The great man in the fort had not lost sight 
of little matters at home while these great affairs 
of state were in hand. Alderman Kip had been 
imprisoned " for going in the church to old Mr. 
Beekman to receive the Alms before he went to 
young Henry the baker," one of Leister's coun- 
cil. The Albanians were still holding out against 
the Leislerites, and John Allyn, Secretary of 
Connecticut, wrote Leisler urging the use of 
peaceable measures in dealing with the situation 
in Albany. The " Governor and Council " of 



160 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

New York, in reply, wrote the Governor and 
council of Connecticut, charging their ardent 
anti-" Papist " friends of earlier days, Secretary 
AUyn, the Governor and council of Connecticut, 
with being " encouragers, abettors, aiders and 
upholders " of the Albany rebellion and demand- 
ing that Allyn should be secured for his " traitor- 
ous offence " in having levied sums of money for 
war purposes with Sir Edmund Andros in 1688. 

Leisler wrote the unfrocked Maryland min- 
ister John Coode asking the assistance of Mary- 
land and Virginia in an attack on Canada. An 
expedition of one hundred and sixty men under 
Milborne arrived at Albany, March 20th, and 
under pressure of necessity the city surrendered 
to him. In March the Netherlands' West India 
Company's ship " Prophet Elias," bound for 
Holland from Cura9ao, put into New York for 
repairs and provisions. Leisler took from her, 
" on the King's account," five 12-pounder and 
three 6-pounder guns. He wrote to one of his 
friends. Bishop Burnet, of Salisbury, asking him 
to arrange for payment. The post from Mary- 
land, April 4th, brought a letter from John 
Coode that contained news that confounded and 
amazed Leisler. In it he was told that Nichol- 
son, whom he had denounced but a short time 
before as a " Papist " and pirate who would 
never dare show his face in London again, had 
been appointed by King William, Lieutenant- 
Governor of Virginia. 

An assembly, to which several of the counties 
refused to send delegates, was convened in the 
house of Leisler's son-in-law, Robert Walters, 
April 24th. An act was passed providing for 



IN OLD NEW YORK 161 

raising three pence in every pound, real and per- 
sonal, payable June 1st. It was further decreed, 
as a sop to the Albanians, that all places in the 
province should have the right to bolt, bake and 
transport flour where they pleased, a monopoly 
previously enjoyed, it will be recalled, by New 
York city. Petitions for the release of the 
twenty-two prisoners, crowded into the fort's 
dungeons and for the relief of the people's griev- 
ances poured in on the assembly and caused Leis- 
ler to prorogue that body. 

The first American Congress, made up of 
delegates from the English Colonies, called to- 
gether by Leisler, met in New York, May 1st, to 
devise ways and means to make war on New 
France. As a result of this meeting, Leisler 
agreed with the other delegates to attack the 
French possessions by land and sea. Commis- 
sions were issued to the captains of the ship 
" Blessed William," brigantine " John and Cath- 
erine," sloop " Resolution " and sloop " Royal 
Albany," to proceed to join the fleet that was to 
attack Quebec, and to take prizes, and to the 
sloop " Edward " to cruise about Block Island 
and the Sound. The imposition of the war tax 
and Leisler's arbitrary government were arous- 
ing a spirit of opposition, and although the 
drummers accompanied the recruiting officers 
throughout the city, the efforts to find crews for 
the little squadron met with slight success. Even 
the promise of prize money failed to awaken in- 
terest. It is said that Leisler's council consid- 
ered a project to man the vessels by impressing 
the principal anti-Leisler inhabitants, but the 
scheme was abandoned. The crews were finally 



162 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

shipped, and May 26th the New York squadron 
sailed to join the fleet. Ugly rumors reached the 
city on May 19th, from the military contingent 
in Albany. It was said that the New York sol- 
diers did nothing but drink and that " the widow 
Schuyler had beaten Jacob Milborne and that 
Leisler's agents were forced to fly to Esopus." 

Leisler quickly learned the truth of the old 
adage that " troubles never come singly." There 
was an important document drawn and signed 
by some of the principal inhabitants, including 
Dominie Varick, Pastor Peirret, five oflicers of 
the Dutch Church, and three of the French 
Church, appealing to William and Mary to 
deliver the province from Leisler's rule. " To our 
Great Greife," it read, " we find ourselves sorely 
oppressed, having groaned neare twelve months 
under the burthen of Slavery and arbitrary 
Power executed over us by the inraged fury of 
some ill men among us who have assumed your 
Ma*y^ Authority over us, overturned all civill 
power (notwithstanding your Ma^^^ Proclama- 
con for continuing all justices of the Peace &c) 
ruling us by the sword at the sole Will of an 
Insolent Alien (he being none of your Ma^J"^ 
natural borne subject) assisted by some few 
whom he can give no better name than a Rable, 
those who formerly were scarce thought fit to 
bear the meanest offices among us, Severall of 
whom can also be proved guilty of enormous 
crimes, by these your Ma*y^ poor distressed and 
almost ruined subjects are dayly opprest, being 
dragged into Prison into your Ma^J"^ Guarrison 
here by Ai'med Soldiers and Irons put on us, 
without any Warrant or Mittimus, and not only 



IN OLD NEW YORK 163 

bare imprisonment but shut up in dark noisome 
Holes, denyed the accesse of our Friends or any 
ReHef by the law seizing our estates without any 
Tryall or Conviction plundering our Houses by 
armed Soldiers pretending it is for your Ma*^^^ 
Service Stopping all Processe by Law Seizing 
and opening all our Letters which we either re- 
ceave from or send to any Parts fearing least we 
might make our case Knowne to your sacred 
Ma*^^^ to the manifest ruin of our Trade Scandal- 
lizing and abusing our Ministers and Rulers of 
the Reformed Churches here seizing y^ Revenues 
thereof so that our liberties are taken away our 
Religion in great Danger our Estates ruined 
sev^^ of the best and most considerable Inhab- 
itants are forced to retire from their habitations 
to avoid their fury to the utter ruin of their 
Families." 

Leisler had purchased, in 1689, for the Hugue- 
nots, a tract of land in Westchester County now 
known as New Rochelle. Notwithstanding the 
friendly relations that had existed between Leis- 
ler and the people of New Rochelle, no section of 
the province more bitterly denounced the im- 
position of the war tax. A delegation from New 
Rochelle, headed by Captain Cottomaer of the 
New Rochelle militia company, journeyed down 
to the fort and had a heated interview with Leis- 
ler. 

" Orders have come to our town," said Cotto- 
maer to Leisler, " to choose Collectors and Asses- 
sors to levy a certain tax. We won't pay the tax. 
It's arbitrary." 

"The tax is made by order of the General 
Assembly," replied Leisler, " and therefore not 



164 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

arbitrary and it is levied to carry on the war 
against the French." 

" It's an unnecessary war against the French," 
responded Cottomaer, "if the French have made 
some small outrage or skirmish above Albany it's 
not worth while to make war therefor, at least it 
doesn't concern our place." 

It does concern the whole province and the tax 
will be levied," said Leisler. 

" We'll pay none," asserted Cottomaer, " the 
King of England invited the French Protestants 
to his Kingdom, promising them that their lives 
would be sweet to them. The King promised in 
a Declaration to maintain us if we should want, 
and by the King's authority we demand assist- 
ance because we are in want of it now." 

"I have the executive power," announced Leis- 
ler, " and I'll find a way to collect the tax." 

" We'll oppose and resist its collection," re- 
torted Cottomaer, " and those who come to 
fetch it will find it bad enough." All of which 
tends to indicate the spirit of revolt rife against 
Leisler's authority. 

Ensign Joost Stoll, Leisler's ambassador to 
Whitehall, landed in the city May 20th. His 
embassy had been a dismal failure and he had 
been ignored at Court. The crowning blow was 
his announcement that Colonel Henry Sloughter 
had been appointed Governor of New York. 

A sailor from England brought the tidings 
that in Plymouth he had been told, by some skip- 
pers and prisoners from France, that eight 
stout French men-of-war were fitting out to take 
New York and fortify it. Secretary Allyn 
wrote, May 28th, to Leisler that half the troops 



' IN OLD NEW YORK 165 

in Albany, destined for the invasion of Canada, 
were sick with dysentery and fever. 

The commissioned officers from the fort went 
to the City Hall, June 6th, to proclaim from the 
steps the orders of Leisler's council of war, held 
the day before, ordering the people " to keep 
strict watch and proceed with the fortification of 
the city." A crowd of about fifty anti-Leisler- 
ites assembled. Some of the people concluded 
that the object of the reading* was to announce 
stringent measures to collect the war tax. They 
shouted denunciations of the measure, swore they 
would pay no tax, and demanded that the read- 
ing cease until the prisoners had been released 
from the fort's dungeons. One of the officers, 
amid jeers, laughter, and general uproar, directed 
the Clerk to proceed with his reading. 

The High Constable commanded the Petty 
Constable, Edward Buckmaster, to see that the 
peace was preserved, but, instead of drawing 
forth his official truncheon, " mine host " Buck- 
master produced a club and lined up with the 
malcontents. 

"Read on!" commanded Sheriff Johannes 
Johnson, whereupon Jeremy Tuthill seized En- 
sign Abraham Brasher and attempted to pull him 
off the steps. Brasher resisted and a scuffle en- 
sued, in which Robert Allison and his cane played 
a part. Others became involved, and the melee 
was fast developing into a riot. John Smith 
created a diversion by calling on the crowd to go 
to the fort and demand the release of the prison- 
ers. With three hearty cheers the mob moved 
along Pearl Street, streamed across the bridge 
and, turning into Whitehall Street, came face to 



166 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

face with — Mr. Jacob Leisler. A spokesman of 
the crowd was about stating the object of their 
coining, to demand the release of the prisoners, 
when the conference was rudely interrupted by 
the hurried approach of Leisler's son Jacob and 
a party of his friends, all with swords drawn. 
This was the signal for another outbreak. Leis- 
ler was set upon and roughly handled. John 
Crook, a cooper, lunged at him with an adze, but, 
whirling his cane about him, Leisler struck in the 
mouth two of his assailants who sought to pre- 
vent him from drawing his sword. He succeeded 
in clearing a space around him, drew his weapon, 
and fell back in the direction of the rescue party. 
Others, in the fort, attracted by the commotion, 
hurried to the scene, and after a short struggle 
carried twenty of the crowd into the fort to join 
the prisoners already there. 

The following day Leisler issued a proclama- 
tion that all who would not sign a declaration of 
fidelity to him as representative of King William 
would be deemed enemies of his Majesty and the 
country and treated accordingly. Dispatches 
were sent to King William and Lord Shrews- 
bury that the expeditioin for the conquest of 
Canada was about to begin operations. Leisler 
commissioned his crony, Jacob Milborne, Com- 
mander-in-Chief. Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts entered a vehement protest against the 
appointment, and Fitz-John Winthrop was sub- 
stituted. The expedition was mismanaged from 
the start, owing largely to the incompetency and 
jealousy of Leisler and his agents, and Winthrop 
was imprisoned by Leisler, whereupon the Con- 
necticut troops and their Indian allies became so 



IN OLD NEW YORK 167 

threatening that Leisler was forced to liberate 
Winthrop. The Connecticut government was 
furious over the indignity to the Commander-in- 
Chief, sternly rebuked Leisler, and told their one 
time anti-" Papist " ally that " a prison was not a 
catholicon for all State maladies, though so much 
used by you." The bringing of some French 
prizes into New York was about the sole result of 
the naval expedition. 

The news of the breach between Leisler and 
the Connecticut authorities traveled to New 
York, and one morning in June, during some 
military exercises in the fort in New York, five 
Connecticut soldiers, in the presence of their com- 
pany, stepped from the ranks and threatened to 
lay down their arms and desert if they were not 
permitted to return home. About the same time 
eight civil prisoners, after taking the oath of al- 
legiance to Leisler, were liberated. Naturally 
aggrieved over their imprisonment, they de- 
manded an interview with Leisler, and Captain 
Tuder was admitted to an audience as their 
spokesman ; but Leisler did all the talking, in the 
following strain : 

" By the proclamation you were hectored out 
of the late King James but you remain still af- 
fected to the Papists and you have said you loved 
them as well as Protestants and that we were all 
rebels. You laughed and railed at the militia and 
gave ill language to your Captain. You failed 
to appear in arms when the alarm was sounded 
and you were distrained for neglecting to work 
on the fortifications, discouraging the people 
thereby. And if all that wasn't enough, you did 
not contribute silver, gold or precious stones to 



168 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

erect a Jesuit college in this city, but you, with 
Judge Palmer and Graham, offered your sons to 
it and they went twice daily to be instructed by 
that hellish brood of Jesuits without being able to 
draw one sole child more. We have less cause to 
trust you in these times of war when we find on 
one occasion you did not spare your own son." 

Tuder signed the petition and was liberated. 
From this time until his downfall, Leisler's big- 
otry, together with his anxieties and difficulties, 
seem to have culminated in a sort of mania. He 
was absent in Albany, September 1st, the day 
set for the opening session of his assembly, 
which did not, in consequence, convene until his 
return on the 18th. Some of the laws passed 
were as follows: All persons who had left the 
province were commanded to return within three 
weeks after the law's publication or be " deemed 
and esteemed as persons disobedient to the gov- 
ernment." A new tax-levy was authorized for 
the support of the fort's garrison. A fine of 
£75 was imposed on any one who refused to ac- 
cept a civil or military appointment from Leis- 
ler. Any one leaving Albany or Ulster counties 
without his permission would incur a fine of 
£100. Merchandise brought down the Hudson 
from Albany or Ulster without Leisler's license 
would be confiscated. Refugees from Albany 
and Ulster were commanded, " at their utmost 
peril " in the event of disobedience, to return 
within two weeks of the law's publication. " In 
the annals of popular legislation," says Brod- 
head, " it would be difficult to find more despotic 
laws than these." 

Having disposed of all the " Papists," Leisler 



IN OLD NEW YORK 169 

had begun the persecution of the ministers of 
the various Protestant churches who opposed his 
despotic rule. In a letter to the Classis of Am- 
sterdam, September 14th, Dominie Henricus 
Selyns wrote concerning conditions at that day 
in New York: "Dominie Varick and myself 
have suffered more than can be believed and are 
forced to cultivate patience. May the Lord in 
his Providence incline the hearts of their Majes- 
ties to send over some one to take charge of this 
government who can heal the rupture, remove the 
cause of dissension and tranquilize the govern- 
ment. Otherwise we have resolved to relinquish 
everything and return to Holland; or like Elias 
hide ourselves in the wilderness and administer 
the service of Christ ultra Garamantos et In- 
dos." 

Dominie Godfrey Dellius, a friend of the 
Jesuit Father Lamberville and a missionary 
worker among the Indians, opposed Leisler, who 
sought to imprison him in Fort William, but he 
fled to Boston. Dominie Rudolphus Varick, of 
Flatbush, Long Island, one of the signers of the 
protest against Leisler in May, was obliged to 
flee to Newcastle, Delaware, for uttering his sen- 
timents too freely. He returned to New York, 
was arrested and imprisoned in the fort " for 
speaking treasonable words against Captain 
Leisler and the fort." A special commission ap- 
pointed to try him sentenced him to be " deprived 
of his ministerial functions, amerced in a fine of 
£80, and to remain in close prison until that fine 
should be paid." Dominie Selyns, Leisler's pas- 
tor, ofi'ered bail for Dominie Varick, which was 
refused, and Selyns was " grossly abused by 



170 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Leisler himself in the church at the time of 
divine service and threatened to be silenced." 
Varick afterwards made his submission to Leis- 
ler and was released. The two French Huguenot 
ministers, Antoine Peirret and Pierre Daille, 
were frequently abused and threatened by Leis- 
ler, " because they would not approve of his 
power and disorderly proceedings." 

Towards the end of October there was an out- 
break against Leislerism in Queens County " in 
a riotous and rebellious manner, and Milborne 
and two others were commissioned to subdue all " 
that are refractory to the established govern- 
ment, " with all violence and hostility on Long 
Island." The commissioners and their followers 
carried out their instructions to the letter, to the 
great loss and distress of the inhabitants. The 
people of Hempstead, Jamaica, Flushing and 
Newtown formally protested against Leisler's 
violence, in which document Jacob Milborne was 
thus arraigned: " The former [Jacob Milborne] 
famous for nothing but Infamy, whom I doubt 
not but long ere this time your Lord? has re- 
ceived the true caracter of by better hands, but 
one thing I cannot omit letting your Lord? 
Know, that this very Jacob Milborne which now 
does so Tyrannize over there Maj*^^^ loyall sub- 
jects, was once convicted of a crime which de- 
served death, had not great clemency bin shewn 
him by those whom chiefly now hee persicutes, 
which was for clipping and defacing the King's 
coine " 

In December, a Boston friend of Leisler's 
wrote him that Sloughter's arrival might be ex- 
pected any day, and advised him that it would be 



IN OLD NEW YORK 171 

well to temper justice with moderation and 
mercy. 

The year 1691 opened ominously for Leisler. 
In the early days of January revolt against Leis- 
ler's rule and disorder spread, involving even 
the city's militia. On January 29th, the ship 
" Beaver " and the storeship " John and James " 
dropped anchor in the lower bay. Boatmen ar- 
riving in the city reported that the " Beaver's " 
deck was crowded with red-coated soldiery. 
Stephen Van Cortlandt and a large delegation 
of anti-Leislerites hurried down to the ships and 
found Major Richard Ingoldsby, who had 
served in Holland and with William in Ireland, 
in command. On board was a company of regu- 
lar infantry. As passengers on the " John and 
James " were Councilor Chidly Brooke, Col- 
lector and Receiver of New York, and Secretary 
Clarkson. The visitors learned that the " Arch- 
angel," frigate. Captain Jasper Hicks, having 
as a passenger the Governor, Colonel Henry 
Sloughter, the "Beaver," the "Canterbury'* 
and the storeship " John and James," had sailed 
from the Isle of Wight and had separated at sea. 
The three ships, having no sailing directions, 
steered for New York, expecting to find the 
" Archangel " in port. Ingoldsby was informed 
of the condition of affairs in the province and 
urged to land his regulars and take possession of 
the fort. He sent Collector Brooke, Lieutenant 
Shanks and Ensign Simmes, Ingoldsby's broth- 
er-in-law, to Leisler to demand possession of the 
fort for the King's forces and stores. Leisler 
was angered at the demand — was wilUng to re- 
ceive the stores, but not the troops. 



172 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

" Who has been appointed to the Provincial 
Council? " he asked Brooke. 

" Phillipse, Van Cortlandt, Nicolls and Bay- 
ard," answered Brooke, mentioning the Council- 
ors' names. 

"What! those popish dogs, rogues," he 
shouted in a violent rage; " Sacrament! If the 
King should send three thousand such I would 
cut them all off! " He refused positively to sur- 
render the fort until Ingoldsby produced definite 
orders to that effect from William or Sloughter. 
He sent De la Noy and Milborne on board the 
" Beaver " to inspect Ingoldsby's orders and of- 
fer him all sorts of accommodations. Ingoldsby 
replied : 

" I have seen the copy of his Majesty's letter 
directed to Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson but 
cannot find how you may derive any author- 
ity to yourself from thence. I want not the ac- 
commodations you speciously offer to his Majes- 
ty's soldiers under my command. Possession of 
his Majesty's fort is what I demand from you; 
and if you refuse that, I must esteem you no 
friend to their Majesties King William and 
Queen Mary." 

Ingoldsby's knowledge that his company of 
regulars was vastly outnumbered by the Leisler- 
ites induced him to issue a command on the 30th 
to Captain Samuel Moore to furnish him the aid 
of the Long Island militia against the rebels who 
opposed his Majesty. Leisler protested against 
this order and called on the neighboring militia 
to obey him. The last night of January, as a 
squad of soldiers was boarding the " Beaver " 
from a small boat, there was a spurt of fire and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 173 

the crack of a musket from the fort. Ingoldsby 
protested against this outrage, and Leisler re- 
pKed disavowing responsibiHty for the act. The 
ship " Canterbury," with another company of 
regular infantry, arrived February 2nd, and 
Leisler ordered Major Beekman to entertain the 
soldiers should they land on Long Island, pro- 
vided " they were not hostile and committed no 
unlawful acts." 

The battle of proclamations waxed hot. In- 
goldsby issued one February 2nd, to allay 
malicious rumors industriously circulated by the 
Leislerites, that he had come to protect and not 
to disturb the people. Leisler followed with one 
the following day, announcing Sloughter's ap- 
pointment as Governor and that the fort would 
be surrendered to him. He directed that In- 
goldsby and his soldiers should be entertained in 
the city, offering his houses for their accommo- 
dation. Another proclamation was issued from 
the fort on the 5th, against certain persons on 
Long Island, for arresting Leislerites and seiz- 
ing Leisler's orders. 

On the 6th, boatloads of red-coated regulars 
pulled away from the " Beaver " and " Canter- 
bury," and with all the precautions usual when 
landing in an enemy's country, disembarked in 
the city. The troops were quartered in the City 
Hall and an adjoining building. Ingoldsby, on 
the 14th, demanded the release from imprison- 
ment of Bayard and NicoUs, appointed Royal 
Councilors. Leisler replied that they must re- 
main in confinement until his Majesty's further 
orders. Affairs were quiet for a time, awaiting 
Sloughter's arrival. The Leislerites circulated 



174 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

reports that Ingoldsby and his men were " Pa- 
pists and disaffected persons fled from England, 
that their commissions were forged, and they 
were enemies of King WilHam and Queen 
Mary." The Councilors, reinforced by the ar- 
rival of another of their number, Joseph Dudley, 
from Boston, met and endeavored to pacify the 
people, but notwithstanding their efforts the city 
was rapidly assuming a warlike aspect. Armed 
detachments from all parts of the province came 
to swell the fort's garrison. Boatloads of stores 
were taken into the fort. There was great activ- 
ity within its walls, and one by one the guns were 
removed from the river side and their frowning 
muzzles trained on the city. The I'egulars in the 
City Hall observed the usual military routine. 
The Leislerites objected strenuously to their go- 
ing the rounds and threatened destruction if it 
did not cease. One night, as a squad of regulars, 
under command of a sergeant, was passing the 
f qrt, the Leisler garrison sallied forth and seized 
the soldiers. They were liberated after a night's 
imprisonment, a messenger and drummer from 
Ingoldsby demanding their release. This month 
Jacob Milborne and Mary, the daughter of 
Jacob Leisler, were married. It is doubtful if a 
sadder wedding ever took place in the city. 

The council, March 4th, issued a call to 
the militia of the near-by counties for aid, and 
Major Ingoldsby was directed to take proper 
steps for the protection of his Majesty's sub- 
jects and property. Leisler followed with a 
proclamation, next day, declaring that he was 
constrained to take up arms in defense of their 
Majesties' supremacy and denouncing " the il- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 175 

legal, unwarrantable and undue practices " of 
the Royal Councilors and Ingoldsby. These 
proclamations were, in effect, declarations of 
war. The people of Kings and Queens counties 
met at the ferry and adopted a peace address. 
Gerardus Beekman, a one time prominent Leis- 
lerite, carried the address to Leisler, but it made 
no impression on him. His garrison of three hun- 
dred men was increased by levies from the near- 
by settlements to five hundred. Leisler and his 
Council denounced Ingoldsby because " the said 
Major did Excite induce encourage & head 
great numbers of Papists and french . . . with 
force of arms to show themselves in a Rouatous 
hostile manner putting the rest of the good in- 
habitants of the city in fear of their lives and 
possessions." There was an uprising on the 8th, 
in Westchester County, in Leisler's favor, but it 
did not assume alarming proportions. 

The blockhouse at Smit's Vly was occupied by 
the Leislerites under command of Captain Ger- 
ret Duyckinck and Ensigns Brasher and De 
Milt, on the 13th. The next day Secretary 
Clarkson issued a call to the military authorities 
of Kings, Queens and Suffolk counties, and 
New Jersey, to hurry their militia levies to New 
York. Connecticut was asked to send three or 
four hundred men. In these preparations valu- 
able service was rendered Ingoldsby by Captain 
William Kidd, afterwards of piratical fame. In 
a proclamation dated the 16th, Leisler wrote: 
" That the said Major Ingoldsby hath upheld 
and protected armed Papists who put the good 
people in fear of their lives by holding loaded 
muskets to their bodies. That he employs and 



176 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

entertains Frenchmen suspected Papists, to spy 
and endeavor to betray the fort by night, and 
who were captured in the act Extraordinarily 
armed." He called on Ingoldsby and the coun- 
cil to disband their forces, or he would destroy 
them as " impious and unreasonable men." An 
answer to this demand was required within two 
hours. 

Ingoldsby and his advisers realized that this 
threat meant war, and active preparations were 
begun to meet it. Men were hurried to the ends 
of the streets leading to the fort and blockhouse, 
and with all speed brawny arms, under the direc- 
tion of the officers of the regulars, threw up 
earthworks, mounted cannon and erected barri- 
cades across the thoroughfares. The day after 
the receipt of Leisler's last fulmination the 
Councilors sent him a reply that they and the 
forces held King William's commissions and 
wished to preserve the peace, and that any one 
who attacked them would be public enemies to 
the crown of England. A quarter of an hour 
after this message had been received at the fort, 
and while Ingoldsby's regulars were on parade 
in the yard of the City Hall, there was a burst 
of smoke from one of the fort's great guns, a 
flash and roar, and a ball struck the wall of a 
building near the City Hall. Leisler, it is said, 
fired this gun with his own hand. This was fol- 
lowed by other shots from the fort and by volleys 
of musketry, until the lower part of the city was 
dense with powder smoke. The fort's guns were 
answered from the earthworks, and by the burst- 
ing of a defective cannon six of Ingoldsby's par- 
tisans, among them Major Patrick MacGreg- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 177 

orie, who had again changed his colors, were 
killed. In order that Ingoldsby's forces might 
be caught between two fires, Leisler had ordered 
Ensign Brasher, who was in command of the 
Smit's Vly blockhouse, to support the fort's fire, 
but Brasher, unwilling or afraid to oppose the 
King's troops and the three guns mounted 
against the blockhouse, went to the fort for fur- 
ther instructions. He was promptly locked in a 
cell for disobedience of orders. The garrison of 
the blockhouse, deserted by their commander, 
fled and the King's troops took possession. 

At nightfall the fort's fire ceased. The day's 
casualties, apart from those killed by the burst- 
ing gun, numbered two killed and seventeen 
wounded. About a thousand shots were fired 
from the fort, and it is said that cannon balls 
were heated red-hot to fire the town; but evi- 
dently wiser counsel discouraged their use. Next 
morning the firing from the fort was renewed 
for a time, but although Ingoldsby held every 
man of his forces under arms, fearing a sally 
from the fort or a bombardment of the city, he 
did not return Leisler's fire. To distinguish his 
men from the Leislerites, he ordered them to 
wear white bands on their left arms. 

The long-looked- for frigate " Archangel " 
sailed into the bay on the 18th and dropped an- 
chor below the Narrows, four months out from 
the Isle of Wight. Next day Joseph Dudley and 
the other members of the council sailed down the 
bay in a brigantine and, boarding the " Arch- 
angel," gave Governor Sloughter an account of 
the critical condition of affairs in the city and 
urged him to hurry to the scene. They learned 



178 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

that the "Archangel" on parting from the 
squadron had steered for Bermuda. A severe 
storm had nearly wrecked the ship on the rocks 
at Bermuda. The damages to the vessel, includ- 
ing the loss of fifty feet of her keel, required 
three weeks to repair, and six weeks had been 
consumed in the voyage from the island to New 
York. The Governor hastened to New York in 
the frigate's pinnace, and as the little craft shot 
into sight of the city, after passing Nutten 
Island, volleys of cheers and other manifesta- 
tions of the people's joy struck terror into the 
hearts of the occupants of Fort William. Soon 
the loud clangor of the bell on the City Hall at- 
tracted a great crowd. The Governor and Coun- 
cilors appeared on the steps. His commission 
was read, and he took the oath of office, adminis- 
tering it in turn to his council. This oath was 
the following infamous test oath, administered 
officially for the first time in New York : 

" I, Henry Sloughter, do solemnly and sin- 
cerely in the presence of God, profess, testifie 
and declare, that I do believe that in the Sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper there is not any tran- 
substantiation of the elements of bread and wine 
into the body and blood of Christ, at or after the 
consecration thereof by any person whatsoever; 
and that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin 
Mary or any other saint, and the sacrifice of the 
Mass, as they are now used in the Church of 
Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous. And I do 
solemnly in the presence of God, profess, testify 
and declare that I do make this declaration and 
every part thereof in the plain and ordinary sense 
of the words read unto me, as they are commonly 



IN OLD NEW YORK 179 

understood by English Protestants, without any 
evasion or mental reservation whatsoever, and 
without any dispensation already granted me for 
this purpose by the Pope or any person whatso- 
ever, or without any hope of such dispensation 
from any person or authority whatsoever, or 
without thinking I am or can be acquitted before 
God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or 
any part thereof, although the Pope or any other 
person or persons or power whatsoever should 
dispense with or annul the same, or declare that it 
was null and void from the beginning." 

These preliminaries finished, the Governor 
directed Ingoldsby and his company to march to 
the fort and demand entrance. Leisler refused 
to admit them and sent Stoll to Sloughter to 
identify him and demand " orders under the 
King's own hand directed to him." Ingoldsby 
was ordered back to the fort to demand posses- 
sion and the release of Councilors Bayard and 
Nicolls, to attend his Majesty's service, and the 
I presence at the City Hall of Leisler, Milborne 
and " such as are called his Council." Leisler re- 
plied to the demand " that the fort was not to be 
given up on such easy terms." Milborne and De 
la Noy were sent with Ingoldsby to the Governor 
" to capitulate," Leisler refusing to go person- 
ally or to liberate Bayard and Nicolls. On ar- 
rival at the City Hall, Milborne and De la Noy 
were at once arrested and turned over to the 
guard. 

About midnight Ingoldsby again presented 
himself before the fort and repeated his former 
demand, which was peremptorily refused. Early 
next morning, Friday 20th, the " Archangel," 



180 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

frigate, rounded Nutten Island, and taking .a 
position in the channel oif the fort, cleared decks 
for action. The Governor and council met in 
the City Hall, and had not been long in session 
when a letter was received from Leisler, in which 
he said: " I see very well the stroke of my ene- 
mies, who are wishing to cause me some mistakes 
at the end of the loyalty I owe my gracious King 
and Queen." He begged the Governor to re- 
ceive the fort. His letter* was unnoticed. Short- 
ly afterwards the King's troops, under command 
of Ingoldsby, marched from the City Hall to 
the plain or parade, and Ingoldsby, advancing to 
the fort, made a peremptory demand for its sur- 
render, threatening in the event of a refusal to 
carry it by assault. After a pause he was in- 
formed that he might enter alone. He found 
the fort crowded with Leisler's adherents. He 
addressed them, calling on them by the Gov- 
ernor's orders to ground their arms and march 
out, promising full pardon to all except Leisler 
and his so-called council. The fort's garrison, 
eager for peace on such favorable terms, threw 
down their arms and poured out through the 
sally port. There was an immense crowd of 
spectators and a storm of derisive cries, hoots 
and groans greeted the appearance of the Leis- 
lerites. As soon as the vanquished had passed 
beyond the lines of the King's troops, many of 
them were seized and roughly handled by the 
people. At the word of command the soldiers 
marched into the fort and the reign of Leisler 
was at an end. Bayard and Nicolls, showing 
pitiably the effects of their ill-treatment, were re- 
leased from their underground dungeons, and it 



IN OLD NEW YORK 181 

is significant of the suiFerings they endured that 
the Leislerites afterwards confined in the same 
dungeons petitioned for release from them on 
the plea that they would " not admit of common 
conveniency for life & nature." Strongly 
guarded, and looking downcast and fearful, 
Leisler and his advisers were marched through 
jeering crowds to the City Hall. The chain from 
Bayard's leg was put on Leisler's, and he and 
his councilors were committed to the custody of 
the guards. That day Sloughter entered the fort 
and renamed it " William Henry." 

Dominie Selyns preached before the Governor 
on Sunday the 22nd, taking his text appropri- 
ately from the XXVII Psalm: " I had fainted, 
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the 
Lord in the land of the living." The Governor, 
on Monday, appointed Councilors Dudley, Van 
Cortlandt and Brooke to examine the prisoners. 
They asked Sloughter for a personal hearing, 
but he decided they should be heard before a 
court, and accordingly a special commission of 
Oyer and Terminer was ordered. The court con- 
sisted of Joseph Dudley and Thomas Johnson, 
appointed Judges in Admiralty, with Sir Robert 
Robinson, former Governor of Bermuda, Colo- 
nel William Smith, Recorder Pinhorne, and 
John Lawrence of the council; Captain Jasper 
Hicks of the " Archangel," Major Ingoldsby, 
Colonel John Young and Captain Isaac Arnold 
of Long Island, or any six of them, " one of the 
Judges always being one." The prisoners were 
committed to the custody of Sheriff Lyndall for 
trial on charges of traitorously levying war 
against the King and Queen, counterfeiting 



182 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

their Majesty's great seal, murdering Josiah 
Browne (killed by a shot from the fort), " for 
holding by force the King's fort against the 
King's Governor after the publication of his 
commission, and he had thereby become Chief 
Magistrate and after a demand had been made 
in the King's Name, and in the reducing of 
which lives had been lost." 

The grand jury found an indictment charging 
the prisoners with treason and murder. On be- 
ing arraigned, eight of the prisoners pleaded not 
guilty. Leisler and his son-in-law Milborne re- 
fused to plead and were tried as mutes. Early 
in April the Provincial Assembly unanimously 
resolved that Leisler's act had been " tumultu- 
ous, illegal, arbitrary, destructive and rebellious; 
and that the massacre at Schenectady could only 
be attributed to the disorders and disturbance of 
those who had usurped a power contrary to their 
Majesty's authority and the right of Govern- 
ment over this province." The Governor and 
council agreed to this resolution and ordered its 
IDublication. Another act of this assembly al- 
lowed to Dominie Dellius, in consideration of his 
services among the Mohawks, sixty pounds, 
" formerly paid yearly to two Romish Priests 
that attended on Governor Dongan." 

After a trial of eight days, concluded April 
20th, the court found guilty, Leisler, Milborne, 
Abraham Gouveneur, Gerardus Beekman, Jo- 
hannes Vermilye, Thomas Williams, INIyndert 
Coerten and Abraham Brasher; not guilty, De 
la Noy and Edsall. Presiding Judge Joseph 
Dudley pronounced sentence of death. On the 
advice of the judges the Governor rej)rieved the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 183 

prisoners, on their petition, until the King's 
pleasure should be known, " unless any insur- 
rection of the people necessitate their execu- 
tion." The assembly. May 13th, passed an act 
declaratory of the rights and privileges of their 
Majesty's subjects, with a proviso that it was 
not " to give liberty for any person of the Rom- 
ish religion to exercise their manner of worship • 
contrary to the laws and statutes of their Majes- 
ty's kingdom of England." 

The excitement caused by the conviction and 
sentence of Leisler and his adherents had been 
constantly increasing. Sloughter wrote to the 
home government, May 27th, " If his Majesty 
shall please to grant his pardon for all except 
Jacob Leisler and Jacob Milborne it will be a 
favor." A petition for the pardon of the con- 
demned was circulated and extensively signed in 
Staten Island and Westchester County. Pastor 
Daille was cited before the council, and others 
were imprisoned for circulating these petitions, 
as promoters of riots and disturbance. Dominies 
Selyns, Varick and Dellius preached and talked 
of Leisler's tyrrany, and many of the women of i 
the city demanded his execution. The Mohawks, 
disturbed by Leisler's misgovernment, were said 
to be negotiating a treaty with the French. 
Sloughter, perplexed by the condition of affairs, 
asked the advice of his council, and it was 
unanimous: "That as well for the satisfac- 
tion of the Indians, as the asserting of the 
Government and authority residing in his Excel- 
lency, and preventing insurrections and dis- 
orders for the future, it is absolutely necessary 
that the sentence pronounced against the prin- 



184 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

cipal offenders be forthwith put in execution." 
Sloughter signed the death warrants of Leisler 
and Milborne on the 14th, leaving the other 
prisoners under reprieve. Dominie Selyns an- 
nounced to the condemned their fate that even- 
ing and exhorted them to prepare for death. 

From leaden skies a drenching rain poured 
down on the great crowd assembled on the 
Common the morning of May 16th. Near the 
present site of " The Sun " newspaper building, 
a gallows had been erected. Leisler and Mil- 
borne, with Dominie Selyns in attendance, 
mounted the scaffold. Leisler's dying speech 
was manly and Christian. He acknowledged 
several enormities committed against his will and 
prayed for forgiveness and pardon. Milborne 
recognized an enemy in the crowd and impeached 
him " before God's tribunal." When the bodies 
were cut down they were beheaded and buried at 
the foot of the gallows. After the execution 
Sloughter wrote to the home government: " By 
the advice of the Judges I was inclined to re- 
prieve them until his Majesty's pleasure should 
be known, but the people were so much disturbed 
thereat and the Council and Assembly did repre- 
sent to me the great damage it would be to the 
King's Service and discouragement to future 
loyalty if the law was not executed upon the 
principal actors, which I was constrained to do, 
and on 17th May, Leisler and Milborne were ac- 
cordingly executed." 

The reversal of attainder against Leisler and 
Milborne was passed March 11th, 1692, and an 
order of council granted the return of their 
estates to their families. The Leislerites con- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 185 

demned to death with their principals were par- 
doned, but several generations had passed away 
before the hatred and enmities engendered by 
Leisler's acts ceased to distract New York. 

Governor Fletcher, who succeeded to the chief 
magistracy of the province on Sloughter's death, 
wrote September 10th, 1692, concerning condi- 
tions in New York: " A divided contentious im- 
poverished people I find them, my Endeavours 
are not wanting to compose, but find neither 
Party will be satisfied with less than the necks of 
their Adversaries, I do not despair of bringing 
them to a better understanding, it must be the 
work of some time." 

" During all this time," wrote Dominies Sel- 
yns, Dellius and Varick to the Classis of 
Amsterdam, in 1692, concerning the Leisler 
troubles, " everything has been done under pre- 
text of pleasing King William, and as if for the 
sake of religion ; but in fact everything done was 
contrary to law, to King William, and to the 
Protestant faith." 



186 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER IX 

IN WHICH THE PRESENCE IN THE CITY OF " PAP- 
ISTS," FRENCH PRISONERS AND JESUITS MAKES 
THE NEW YORKERS NERVOUS 

" I AM convinced that the French and Eng- 
hsh are of the same opinion, Monsieur, on one 
point, which is that the whole of this land must 
belong either to the English or French. My 
people at Quebec expect ten or twelve men-of- 
war which may have arrived ere this. I am cer- 
tain that as soon as they arrive our Army will 
come by land and our fleet by sea to your City 
of New York and then there will be a brave 
show. We will bombard your City and we will 
give you much work. They will be here before 
August." 

The speaker was the Chevalier Pierre D'Aux, 
Sieur de Jolliet, named by the Indians Dion- 
akaronde. His listener, Jacob Leisler, in the 
fort at New York. Before explaining the cir- 
cumstances that brought this gallant young 
Frenchman a prisoner to the fort in New York, 
it would be well to learn the grounds on which 
he based his prediction of the coming of a French 
fleet. When France and England were at peace 
many French officers had visited the Northern 
seaboard settlements of the English colonies, and 
had, with sharp, experienced eyes, noted well the 



77V OLD NEW YORK 187 

coast, had estimated the strength of the forts, 
regular troops and mihtia, and the number of 
fighting men among the inhabitants. De la 
Mothe Cadillac, Villebon, Pere, and others, had 
come by way of the Hudson and Long Island 
Sound to New York and had charted its waters, 
counted the guns in the fort, and studied its 
inhabitants. Disgusted with the failure of 
his governors to capably handle the situa- 
tion, Louis XIV had again turned to his 
former governor Count Frontenac. In the sum- 
mer of 1689, Louvois, the minister, called Fron- 
tenac and Cadillac into consultation, and be- 
tween them the plan of a campaign for the 
conquest of New York was adopted. Ro- 
chelle, France, was to be the starting-point for 
the expedition. Frontenac was to organize his 
forces as soon as he arrived at Quebec and push 
southward to New York city. Admiral Caf- 
finiere, with the frigates " Embuscade," " Four- 
gon," and " Saint Fran9ois Xavier," was to 
cruise southward to Sandy Hook and await the 
coming of the land forces. Callieres was to re- 
main in New York as its Governor. Catholics 
found in the city were to be left in their habita- 
tions on taking the oath of allegiance to King 
Louis, provided their fidelity could be relied on 
and there were not too many of them. English 
officers and the chief inhabitants were to be held 
for ransom, and all others were to be sent to New 
England and Pennsylvania. 

Frontenac reached Canada too late. A serious 
outbreak of the Iroquois made so much trouble 
for him within his own borders that foreign con- 
quest was out of the question. Another expedi- 



188 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

tioii the following year resulted in the massacre 
at, and burning of, Schenectady, and the destruc- 
tion of Salmon Falls and Casco Bay (Portland) . 
The chief cause of complaint of the Iroquois 
against the French, it will be recalled, was the 
treacherous capture in 1687 of fifty Iroquois, 
including a number of chiefs, who had been sum- 
moned by Denonville to attend a conference at 
Cataracouy. These Indians had been sent to the 
galleys in France and had been returned to Can- 
ada in compliance with Governor Dongan's de- 
mand. To placate the Indians Frontenac de- 
cided to restore several of the returned prisoners, 
and as a mark of confidence and friendship 
selected the Chevalier Pierre D'Aux as his am- 
bassador to Onondaga. D'Aux, a young cap- 
tain of a company detached from the Marine, 
was accomjDanied by Colin, an interpreter, Bou- 
viat, two other Frenchmen, and four of the re- 
turned Indians. 

The English agent at Onondaga learned 
from the chiefs that an embassy from Quebec 
was expected, and he induced the Indians to 
seize the Frenchmen. When D'Aux and his 
party arrived at Onondaga (near the present 
city of Sj^racuse) the Indians fell upon them, 
divested them of their money, presents and docu- 
ments, and tied them to stakes. D'Aux was 
turned over to the English at Albany, and of the 
fate of the others the accounts differ. The most 
reliable authorities say that one was burned at 
the stake at Seneca, another at Onondaga, and a 
third died of sickness at Mohawk. D'Aux was 
sent a prisoner to Leisler in the fort at New 
York. His papers, recovered from the Indians, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 189 

were sent with him, but notwithstanding the sud- 
den treacherous attack of the savages, he had 
succeeded in destroying the most important of 
his instructions. Leisler seems to have been un- 
usually friendly to his gallant young prisoner, 
" Papist " and Frenchman as he was. He oc- 
casionally summoned him from his confinement 
for a chat, a liberal allowance was made for his 
maintenance, and the quarters assigned him were 
vastly superior to the dungeons in which Bayard 
and others were confined. To while away the 
tedious hours of confinement, D'Aux taught 
French to his cell mate. Dominie Rudolphus 
Varick, of Flatbush. At the time preparations 
to invade Canada were in progress, he made a 
touching appeal to Leisler to protect the French 
women and children from the Indians. During 
Governor Sloughter's administration D'Aux 
was freed from confinement and allowed liberty 
within bounds. While Ingoldsby was acting- 
governor he escaped from New York. A hue 
and cry was raised and oflScers of the law were 
sent after him. He was probably accompanied 
by other French prisoners, and had reached New 
London before he was retaken. His captors car- 
ried him to Boston, and a demand was made on 
the Boston authorities for his return, and re- 
fused; a long and angry correspondence on 
the matter followed between the magnates in 
Boston and New York. He managed to escape 
again in August, 1692, and made the long jour- 
ney through the northern wilderness to Canada, 
but the hardships of the journey, Indian cap- 
tivity and imprisonment had undermined his 
strength, and April 10th, 1694, he was laid at 



190 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

rest in the Recollects Church in Montreal, in his 
thirty-fourth year. During his captivity in New 
York D'Aux had not been deprived entirely of 
the sight of a friendly face and the sound of a 
friendly tongue, as Leisler's cruisers had brought 
to port as prizes the French vessels " La Prin- 
cesse," " St. Pierre," " St. Jean," " Union " and 
" L'Esperance," with their crews. 

South of the St. Lawrence River the Jesuits 
were regarded primarily as agents of the French 
government, both before this period and for 
many years after, and an extract from a letter of 
Father Lamberville to his co-laborer among the 
savages. Father Milet, written in 1690, setting 
forth the animating cause of their labors, will 
not be amiss : " You are aware, and God is our 
witness, that as long as we have intercourse with 
the Indians, we had no other intentions than the 
salvation of souls, and the existence of peace 
as well with the English as between the French 
and Indians; but it has haf)pened, that they 
are turned by the artifice of the Devil and by 
envy to the destruction of those souls which 
Christ has redeemed with His own blood. We 
pray that He may quickly conciliate the Eng- 
lish and French, and free them from the wicked- 
ness of wars." 

In April, 1691, the first assembly after the 
Leisler revolution was convened. In May it 
passed an act entitled, " An act declaring what 
are the rights and privileges of their Majesty's 
subjects within the province of New York." 
Another act was likewise passed, that " no per- 
son professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, shall 
be disturbed or questioned for dilFerent opinion 



IN OLD NEW YORK 191 

in religion, if he do not disturb the public peace, 
provided always that nothing herein mentioned 
or contained shall extend to give liberty for any 
person of the Komish religion to exercise their 
manner of w^orship contrary to the laws and 
statutes of their Majesty's Kingdom of Eng- 
land." This was the first of a series of oppres- 
sive legislative enactments against Catholics. 

Father Thomas Harvey, S.J., who had been in 
hiding in New York since the Leisler troubles, 
succeeded in leaving the city this year to visit a 
house of the order in Maryland. He crossed 
New Jersey, and at Burlington stopped at the 
home of John Tatham, a distinguished Catholic 
citizen of that colony. In Philadelphia, Father 
Harvey rested for awhile in the home of Peter 
Debuc, and then continued his journey to Mary- 
land. He returned later to New York. 

Governor Sloughter, the first of a line of gov- 
ernors, many of whom were dissolute, corrupt, 
a reproach to the power appointing them and an 
insult to the people over whom they were ap- 
pointed, died in 1691, and the following year 
Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, who had seen thirty 
years of service in the British army, including the 
wars in Ireland, arrived in New York as Gov- 
ernor in August, 1692. At this time, and for 
years afterwards, the city was divided into two 
hostile camps — the Leislerite and anti-Leislerite 
parties. Fletcher allied himself with the latter, 
and interfered in the elections, bribing and in- 
timidating voters in a manner that would sur- 
prise even the corrupt politicians of the present 
day. He was vain, headstrong and rapacious. 
His grants of immense tracts of land to his 



192 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

favorites were afterwards annulled by the home 
government, and he was said to have been finan- 
cially interested in a number of the piratical ven- 
tures that left the port under the commissions of 
privateers. He had come to New York to amass 
a fortune, and he was not at all particular about 
the ways and means. 

New York at this time, with its " Red Sea 
traders " pouring into it the rich products of the 
East, its privateers bringing in French prizes 
with their cargoes, increased the riches of the 
city, but made its moral tone more closely re- 
semble a pirate's lair in the Tortugas than a 
staid Anglo-Dutch town. 

King James is roundly abused by some his- 
torians for forbidding the setting up of a print- 
ing-press in the province, when as a matter of 
record he stipulated that no printing-press should 
be permitted without his Governor's consent first 
obtained. These instructions are exactly the 
same as those given by King William to Gov- 
ernor Fletcher. 

The situation of affairs in the city at the close 
of Sloughter's administration is graphically out- 
lined in a letter of Dominie Varick's to the 
Classis of Amsterdam, written in the spring of 
1693: " It was our misfortune that the first Gov- 
ernor (Sloughter) lived only a few months. 
Then the rabble picked up their ears again ; that 
Governor had been a Popish runaway ; and their 
side was said to be approved at Court. The act- 
ing ministers, etc., were to hang. We feared a 
second revolt for almost a year. If it had oc- 
curred it would have cost much blood." 

The war between England and France had re- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 193 

suited in the assembling in New York of a num- 
ber of French and Canadian prisoners. In 
June, 1693, exchanges were arranged, and Fran- 
cis Ber, Mattys Fayette, and four others, left 
the city for Canada, overjoyed at having re- 
gained their freedom. 

Governor Fletcher was very anxious to bring 
an unwilling guest to the city in the person of 
the Jesuit Father Peter Milet, who had been held 
a captive by the Onondagas and had gained 
great influence with the nation. At a conference 
in Albany with the sachems of the Five Nations, 
Fletcher offered them a pretty Indian boy and 
a sum of money if they would hand Father Milet 
over to him, but the Onondagas refused to ratify 
the bargain. Derick Wessels and Robert Saun- 
ders, as ambassadors of Fletcher's, journeyed to 
the Onondagas' castle and used all their elo- 
quence to induce Aquandoronde, the sachem, to 
deliver the missionary and his papers to them, 
but he refused. Fletcher, in a letter to the Com- 
mittee on Trade concerning his efforts to secure 
Father Milet, wrote that he " promised not to 
hurt his Person that Jesuits turning doth much 
harm to our Indians. I am resolved to remove 
him if possible." 

In July, a false report came up from Sandy 
Hook that caused Governor Fletcher to think of 
other things besides warring on Jesuit mission- 
aries. It was reported that a fleet of French war- 
ships had passed the Hook and cast anchor in the 
lower bay. There was wild alarm in the city, and 
the militia was called out and remained under 
arms until the unfounded rumor was contra- 
dicted. The false report, however, turned 



194 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Fletcher's attention to the matter of defense, 
and a census of the available fighting men in 
New York showed the total number to be three 
thousand. Five years before Leisler had re- 
ported twelve thousand available for military- 
duty. New York's participation in the inglori- 
ous revolution had driven thousands from the 
city and province. A French name was sufficient 
to awaken suspicion, and Anthony Lispenard, 
Lafleur and other Frenchmen, were subjected to 
official inquiries concerning their correspondence 
with Canada. 

Dominie Henricus Selyns, in a letter to the 
Classis of Amsterdam, of date November 14th, 
1694, gives a doleful picture of conditions in 
New York. " Our city of New York," he wrote, 
" with its suburbs, is constantly growing. But 
this growth is chiefly in houses and people and 
business, but not in piety and the conversion of 
sinners. Such a condition promises no blessing 
from heaven, but rather a fearful looking of 
judgement. May God preserve us and avert the 
sword of judgement from our land." 

The Massachusetts authorities in 1695 trans- 
mitted to Governor Fletcher information, con- 
cerning the situation of aff*airs in New France, 
that had been communicated to them by certain 
French Protestant officers and soldiers in the 
Quebec garrison. 

A ship from London, in May, 1696, brought 
the news of the discovery of the " assassina- 
tion plot" against the Hfe of King Will- 
iam. It produced a furor in the city, and 
the smoldering embers of anti-Catholic hatred 
were fanned into a furious flame. The Gov- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 195 

ernor wrote the Lords of Trade in a letter of 
June 30th: " I do not know of ten papists in 
the province." He ordered a celebration in com- 
memoration of the discovery of the plot, which 
took place May 26th. The colonial council, 
June 11th, issued an order to disarm and im- 
prison every Roman Catholic in the city. Mayor 
William Merrit was called upon to transmit to 
the council a list of all Roman Catholics in the 
city, and his return contained the following 
names: " Major Anthony Brockholls, Mr. Will- 
iam Douglass, Mr. John Cooley, M. Christiane 
Lawrence, Mr. Thomas Howarding, Mr. John 
Cavalier, Mr. John Patte, Mr. John Fenny and 
Mr. Philip Cunningham." 

Major Brockholls, after his release from ar- 
rest by Leisler, had gone to Captain Bowne's at 
Neversink. He returned to New York in 1689, 
and at the municipal election that fall was not 
permitted to vote, although a freeman, he " be- 
ing a Papist." Dongan and Brockholls both had 
a deal of trouble to induce the provincial fiscal 
authorities to audit their accounts, and not until 
August 8th, 1695, were Brockholls' accounts 
audited. In November of that year, Brockholls 
and Captain Arents Schuyler, in behalf of them- 
selves and associates, Samuel Bayard, George 
Ryerson, John Mead, Samuel Berrie and David 
and Hendrick Mandeville, obtained a patent, 
after purchasing the title from the Indians, of 
5,500 acres of land at Pacquanac, now Pompton 
Plains, Morris County, New Jersey. Brockholls 
and his fellow Catholics, if imprisoned at all, be- 
cause of the council's order, were liberated 
within a short time, on giving " bond, with surety 



196 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of their good behavior," or in default " to be con- 
fined in prison." Schuyler, in his " Colonial 
New York," says: " Brockholls sought a refuge 
in the wilds of New Jersey because New York 
was made so uncomfortable to him on account of 
his religion." He settled at Pompton in 1696 or 
1697, and in his will, dated June 15th, 1710, he 
writes himself a resident of Pompton. The date 
of his death is unknown, but there is a letter ex- 
tant of Michael Kearney's, written from Perth 
Amboy, September 5th, 1723, to Isaac Bobin, 
relative to the exemplification of Brockholls' 
will. His children, several of whom married into 
the most notable families of the province of New 
York, were Susannah Jewette, Henry and Mary 
Brockholls, Judith Van Vechten, Susannah 
French and Jenette Phillipse. 

William Douglass had come to New York 
city from New Jersey. He had been persecuted 
for the Faith once before. In 1680 he was a 
member of the New Jersey Assembly from Ber- 
gen, and was expelled from that body " for be- 
ing a Catholic." 

John Cooley was employed as the blacksmith 
in the fort in 1684, and continued to labor at the 
forge there until 1700, despite the fact that he 
was a " Popish malignant." 

Thomas Howarding, or Hawarden, was a 
ship-owner and an extensive patentee in Gov- 
ernor Dongan's time. 

John Cavalier voyaged from Virginia to Bos- 
ton in 1675, and he seems to have come to New 
York shortly after. He was a favorite of Gov- 
ernor Dongan, who appointed him Marshal of 
the Admiralty in May, 1684, Messenger of the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 197 

Court of Chancery in December, 1685, and 
Messenger of the Colonial Council in April, 
1688. 

John Fenny or Feeny was a tailor, and Lord 
Bellomont, writing to the Board of Trade, said 
of John Fenny, " a Popish tailor of this City and 
a beggar," was on the bond of the pirate Captain 
John Hoar, of the pirate ship " John and Re- 
becca." 

The Governor in June wrote to the Lords of 
Trade : " I found in the two companies [of sol- 
diers] that came last from England two French- 
men, Charles Moriell and James Wood, Roman 
Catholicks ; I could not trust them at Albany lest 
they should correspond with their countrymen 
of Canada. ... I now send them by the ship 
' Beaver ' that they may be exchanged or dis- 
posed of as his Majesty may see fit." 

While officialdom was sadly wrought up over 
this handful of " Papists," it seems to have been 
uneasy over the presence of a large number of 
French prisoners of war, most of whom, it is safe 
to assume, were Catholics, and to have met more 
than half way any proposal to exchange or to pa- 
role them to proceed to other points for exchange. 
In July, Miguel d'Arismonde and two other 
prisoners, brought into New York by the famous 
Captain Kidd of the " Adventure " galley, were 
permitted to go to Boston for exchange. On the 
20th there was a further exchange, and August 
1st Martin Mischelas, boatswain of the French 
bark " Sita Gratia," went to Boston for ex- 
change, Rene Sunard, purser of a French man- 
of-war, following him shortly afterwards. The 
capture of a large French ship by H. M. Ship 



198 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

" Richmond," off Rockaway Beach, in Septem- 
ber, added to the colony of prisoners and the 
consequent uneasiness, and in October the colo- 
nial coiincil ordered a shipment of them to Eng- 
land for exchange. 

What would have been the horror of the vigi- 
lant defenders of the Protestant religion had 
they known that somewhere in the little city there 
abode Governor Dongan's chaplain, the Jesuit 
Father Thomas Harvey. Probably the knowl- 
edge that the war had brought to New York 
many Catholic prisoners had called him back 
from Maryland to the post of duty — and dan- 
ger. Notwithstanding the general hatred of the 
" French Papists," the prisoners at this time 
seem to have been treated humanely. The colo- 
nial council paid Francis Leconte for providing 
for the subsistence of two French women pris- 
oners, and Giles Gaudineau for nursing invalids 
among the Frenchmen. 

In the autumn of 1697, the news of the peace 
of Ryswick reached the city, to the great delight 
of the prisoners, who had liberty to go whither 
they pleased, provided they did not put the gov- 
ernment to further charges. Later in the same 
year, permission was given them to go to Esopus 
or Canada, but they were no longer to be vic- 
tualled by the government. 

The guns of the fort consumed four barrels 
of gunpowder April 13th, 1698, to welcome the 
new Governor, Richard Coote, Earl of Bello- 
mont and Baron Colooney. He was of 
most unsavory ancestry. His grandfather. Sir 
Charles Coote, in Wicklow, in 1641, massacred 
the people without distinction of age or sex, and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 199 

"committed," says Dr. Leland, the Protestant 
historian, " such unprovoked, such ruthless and 
indiscriminate carnage in the town of Wicklow, 
as rivalled the utmost extravagancies of the 
northerns." He is charged with having proposed 
at the council board " a general massacre on all 
the Catholics." Without warrant of law he exe- 
cuted Father Higgins of Naas. " It is certainly 
a miserable spectacle," wrote Lord Castlehaven, 
" to see every day numbers of people executed 
by martial law at the discretion or rather caprice 
of Sir Charles Coote, an hotheaded and bloody 
man, and as such accounted even by the English 
and Protestants." Coote burned the village of 
Clontarf and killed sixteen of its unresisting in- 
habitants in December, 1641. In April of the 
following year, he was killed by one of his own 
troopers while pursuing the Irish at Trim. 

Bellomont's uncle. Sir Charles Coote, junior, 
while in command of the Parliamentary forces in 
Connaught, daily committed hostilities against 
the Catholic confederates, in violation of the ces- 
sation agreed upon between the opposing forces 
in September, 1643. He was at this time Lord 
President of Connaught. He ignominiously put 
to death Bishop Ever McMahon of Clogher, 
who, sorely wounded, was taken prisoner at En- 
niskillen, a deed of the blackest ingratitude, as 
the Bishop had within a year relieved Coote when 
in great extremity in Derry. Among the first to 
open overtures with the King after the depo- 
sition of Richard Cromwell, was Coote, who, 
turning his coat, seized the Castle of Dublin. 
For this the murderer and traitor was made Earl 
of Montrath and a Lord Justice of Ireland. 



200 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Writing of him and Lord Broghill, Clarendon 
said, " These two (new) earls had been eminently 
against the king; but upon this turn, when all 
other powers were down, were eminently for 
him." Such were the kin of the man in whose 
honor New Yorkers burned four barrels of gun- 
powder. He had no sooner taken the oath of 
office than, with characteristic impetuousity, he 
started in to reform everything, and, incidentally, 
denounced nearly every prominent anti-Leisler- 
ite in the city as dishonest or as having amassed 
wealth through an alliance with pirates. 

There were still a number of French prisoners 
in the city awaiting exchange, and Bellomont 
directed Dominie Dellius and Colonel Peter 
Schuyler to proceed to Quebec with a copy of 
the articles of peace between France and Eng- 
land, and a band of twenty prisoners for ex- 
change. The embassy was well received in Que- 
bec, but, to the horror and amazement of the 
Dominie and the Colonel, the English prisoners, 
with two or three exceptions, refused positively 
to be exchanged. They had voluntarily become 
Catholics, were happy in Canada, and had no de- 
sire to return to New York. The English 
children refused to go with Bellomont's agents, 
until a rule was adopted that all under fourteen 
years of age would be compelled. Many of the 
children defeated this ruling by hiding until the 
commissioners from New York had departed. 

Pastor Peirret, of the French Church, had, in 
1697, discovered that there were six among the 
French prisoners of war who asserted that they 
were good Protestants. On his petition letters 
of denization were granted them. In the follow- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 201 

ing year Bellomont made the startling discovery 
that some of the alleged French Protestants were 
really " Papists," and he suspected that their 
business was " to give intelligence to Canada." 
" Papists " were getting on the New Yorkers' 
nerves. 

Of this period Watson in his Annals wrote: 
" So early as the year 1698, a period when more 
than one influential English family of this prov- 
ince was grievously suspected of popery and when 
in the city of New York especially Jesuits were 
supposed to be prowling around every corner." 

Ten years had passed since Father Harvey's 
Latin school had ceased to be, and yet the domin- 
ies were still talking about that awful menace to 
the Protestant religion, and this year relieved 
their minds by writing as follows to the Classis 
of Amsterdam: "The Jesuits had already [in 
Dongan's time] built a school here under the 
pretense to teach the youth the Latin Language, 
to which some even of the most influential had 
already sent their children: and our Church Bell 
was tolled about eight o'clock in the morning 
when the school began. Yes, some whom one 
would not have suspected of it, had already slily 
heard a low Mass although they afterwards said 
it was only through curiosity." 

Dekannisore, or Tegannisorens, as the French 
called him, a famous Onondaga sachem, and 
sometime the chief orator of the Five Nations, 
was in New York to confer with the Governor 
in 1698, and again in 1701. He was a consistent 
advocate of peace between the whites and In- 
dians and a diplomat of the first rank, a friend 
when the occasion served of either French or 



202 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

English, but a friend always of his own people. 
At a conference with Governor- General De 
Vaudreuil at Montreal, in 1703, he said: " Eu- 
ropeans have an ill-formed mind; they make 
peace and then for a mere nothing seize the 
hatchet again. We do not act so; we require 
strong reasons to break a treaty that we have 
signed." Count Frontenac was a great admirer 
and firm friend of Dekannisore. This great 
sachem married a Catholic squaw, who was killed 
by a Mohawk in Albany. He was baptized by a 
Jesuit, and died, subsequent to 1712, at Sault St. 
Louis. . 

True to the traditions of his priest-hunting an- 
cestors, Bellomont, in a letter to the Lords of 
Trade, wrote, in February, 1699, that if he meets 
the Mohawk or Onondaga sachems he will try a 
" stratagem " by oiFering them money or ex- 
traordinary presents to deliver up to him the 
Jesuit missionaries among them. He intended 
shipping them to England to be punished. If 
his " stratagem " succeeded, he argued, the Jesu- 
its would never trust themselves with the Indians 
again, and thus " it would create an eternal im- 
placable hatred between them." The following 
year, at a private conference at Albany between 
Bellomont and the principal sachems of the Five 
Nations, the Governor proposed his " strata- 
gem," as follows: "For every such Popish 
priest and Jesuit which you shall bring to this 
town and deliver up to the Magistrates, you shall 
have one hundred pieces of Eight paid you down 
in ready money as a reward." The eleven sach- 
ems evidently saw through his lordship's " strata- 
gem " and very cleverly evaded it. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 203 

A striking characteristic of the colonial gov- 
ernment of New York was the enmity existing 
between the general assembly, the people and 
the Royal governors. In May of this year there 
was an example of this antagonism in a petition 
to Bellomont that former Governor Fletcher's 
coat of arms be pulled down from the King's 
Chapel in the fort and from Trinity Church, 
" since his birth was so mean and obscure that 
he was not entitled to bear a coat of arms." 

Bellomont's love for the people was evidenced 
in a letter to the Board of Trade in May: " I 
am sorry to say it," he wrote, " but 'tis an un- 
doubted truth, the English here are so profligate 
that I cannot find a man fit to be trusted that's 
capable of business." On the 17th of that month 
he departed from his government of New York 
to seek more congenial Englishmen in his gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts, leaving his relative 
John Nanf an, Lieutenant-Governor, to rule dur- 
ing his absence. 

Some French agents from Canada arrived in 
the city and were quartered in the house of Fran- 
9ois Puillin, where they consumed large quanti- 
ties of his brandy and wine, and small quantities 
of his " mouton." One morning the sentries at 
the fort made the astonishing discovery that a 
great ship of war was dropping its anchor at the 
watering place off* Staten Island. She had come 
up the bay undiscovered and unchallenged. From 
her high poop floated the lily-spangled banner 
of France. In due time one of her boats came 
up to the fort, and an officer landed and in- 
formed Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan that the 
visiting vessel was His Most Christian Majesty's 



204 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ship of the line "La Renomee," the Chevalier 
Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur D'lberville, command- 
ing. " La Renomee " was en route from the 
French settlements at the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi River to France, and had come into New 
York to replenish the supply of wood and water 
and to send dispatches by the French agents to 
Quebec. In a short time the city buzzed with the 
news. 

D'lberville! That name in the English colo- 
nies in those days was nearly as great a bogie as 
Bonaparte's in England at a later day. D'lber- 
ville? Why, he was one of the leaders in the 
Schenectady massacre! "It was he drove the 
English from Hudson's Bay." " Two years ago 
he took Fort Pemaquid from us." " Yes, and re- 
duced Newfoundland." And so in tavern and 
on street corner the French man-of-war and its 
commander were discussed, and the crowd 
poured to the water front to gaze at the warship 
lying down the bay. There was a conference in 
the fort between officers from the flagship and 
the provincial officials, and following it a boat 
came up the bay and from it stepped one in 
clerical garb. A rumor ran through the crowd. 

" What ! Shades of the martyred Leisler and 
all ye other hallowed ones who died for the Prot- 
estant religion ! A Jesuit ? Must such a foul in- 
sult as this be endured in our Protestant City of 
New York? To the jail with him — " but there 
within sight lay " La Renomee," her portholes 
bristling with fifty guns, and here was an apol- 
ogy for a fort, and — well, the crowd melted 
away, shaking its several heads, and Lieutenant- 
Governor John Nanfan acted as well as could be 




PIERRE LE MOYNE SIEUR D IBERVILLE 



IN OLD NEW YORK 205 

expected in the circumstances, and the unwel- 
come visitor was made welcome, and he, with the 
French agents, had their transportation to Rhode 
Island arranged for by mine host Fran9ois Puil- 
lin, and left on their eastward journey. In Oc- 
tober, FitzJohn Winthrop wrote from Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, to Lord Bellomont: "The 
Superior of the Jesuits and ye French gentle- 
men went from Milf ord the same day they ar- 
rived there with all accommodation needful." 
From which it is evident that D' Iberville was a 
name to conjure with and " La Renomee's " 
guns had a very long moral range. It is to be 
regretted that there is no record of the name of 
this Superior of the Jesuits or of the purpose of 
his journey from Louisiana eastward by way of 
Rhode Island. Bellomont was in Boston at this 
time, and the Jesuit may have been the bearer of 
a message from D 'Iberville, or it may have been 
that it was deemed safer for him to proceed to 
Quebec by sea from some eastern port than by 
way of Albany. D 'Iberville's ship having se- 
cured its stores, and some other things it sought, 
proceeded to France. 



206 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER X 

IN WHICH, " LA RENOMEE " HAVING DEPARTED, 
GOVERNOR BELLOMONT WAXES BOLD AGAINST 
PRIESTS AND BECOMES SOLICITOUS FOR THii 
SOULS OF THE INDIANS 

There was a conference in Albany in June, 
1700, between a delegation of Catholic Indians 
from Caughnawaga and the Commissioners of 
Indian affairs. The Commissioners represented 
to the Indians that they had the same freedom 
of trade as themselves, and that since the Indians 
alleged that it was love for the Christian religion 
that prompted them to leave New York and go 
to Canada, the Commissioners hoped in a short 
time to have Protestant ministers to instruct 
them in the true Christian religion. Sagron- 
wadie, the sachem of the praying Indians, re- 
plied: " We are now come to trade and not to 
speak of religion, only thus much I must say, all 
the while I was here before I went to Canada 
I never heard anything talked of religion or the 
least mention made of converting us to the 
Christian faith, and we shall be glad to hear if 
at last you are so piously inclined to take some 
pains to instruct your Indians in the Christian 
religion. I will not say but it may induce some 
to return to their native country. I wish it had 
begun sooner that you had had ministers to in- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 207 

struct your Indians in the Christian faith; I 
doubt whether any of us ever had deserted our 
native country ; but I must say I am beholden to 
the French of Canada for the light I have re- 
ceived to know there was a Saviour born for 
mankind, and now we can be taught God is every- 
where, and we can be instructed at Canada, 
Dowaganhae or the uttermost part of the earth 
as well as here." The records are silent as to the 
Commissioners' reply. 

In June, New York city was again thrown 
into a commotion by the unheralded reappear- 
ance, at its former anchorage, of D 'Iberville's 
ship " La Renomee." Nanfan wrote to Bello- 
mont reporting the arrival of D 'Iberville's ship 
" on pretence to wood and water," but he believed 
to examine the channel and harbor. He was not 
aware that they made any move in that direction, 
but purposed sending out the fort's barge every 
night, and " if the French are discovered sound- 
ing it will be forbidden." He further told Bello- 
mont that he had heard King James had made 
an absolute gift of the province to the French 
King and believed that D 'Iberville had orders to 
touch in and examine the channel and harbor. 
The day this letter was dispatched Bellomont 
returned to ~New York, and August 9th, prob- 
ably after D 'Iberville' s departure, forced the 
following " Act Against Jesuits & Popish 
Priests" on the statute books: 

" Whereas divers Jesuits priests and popish 
missionaries have of late come and for Some 
time have had their residence in the remote parts 
of this Province and other his ma'tys adjacent 
Colonies, who by their wicked and Subtle Insinu- 



208 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ations Industriously Labour to Debauch Seduce 
and w'thdraw the Indians from their due obedi- 
ence unto his most Sacred ma'ty and to Excite 
and Stir them up to Sedition RebelHon and open 
HostiHty against his ma'tys Goverm't for pre- 
vention whereof Bee it Enacted by his Excel the 
Gov'r Council and Representatives Convened in 
Generall Assembly and it is hereby Enacted by 
the Authority of the Same, That all and every 
Jesuit and Seminary Priest missionary or other 
Spirituall or Ecclesiasticall person made or or- 
dained by any Authority power or Jurisdicon de- 
rived Challenged or p'tented from the Pope or 
See of Rome now resideing w'th in this province 
or any part thereof shall depart from and out of 
the Same at or before the first day of November 
next in this present year Seaventeen hundred. 
And be it further Enacted by the authority 
aforesaid, That all and every Jesuit Seminary 
Priest Missionary or other Spirituall or Ecclesi- 
asticall person made or Ordained by any Author- 
ity power or Jurisdiction derived Challenged or 
p'tended from the pope or See of Rome or that 
shall profess himself or otherwise appear to be 
Such by preaching & teaching of others to Say 
any popish prayers by Celebrating masses grant- 
ing of absolution or using any other of the 
Romish ceremonies & Rites of worship by what 
name title or degree So ever such a person shall 
be called or known who shall Continue abide re- 
maine or come into this province or any part 
thereof after ye first day of November aforesaid 
shall be deemed and Accounted an incendiary 
and disturber of the publick peace and Safety 
and an Enemy to the true Christian Religion and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 209 

shal be adjudged to SuiFer perpetuall Impris- 
onm't and if any person being so Sentenced and 
actually Imprisoned shall break prison and make 
his Escape and be afterwards retaken he shall 
Suffer such paines of Death penalties and for- 
feitures as in Cases of ffelony. And it is further 
Enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every 
person that shall wittingly and willingly receive, 
harbor Conceale aid Succour and relieve any 
Jesuit preist missionary or other Ecclesiastical 
person of the Romish Clergy knowing him to be 
Such and be thereof lawfully Convicted before 
any of his ma'tys Courts of Records w'thin this 
Province w'ch Courts are hereby Impowered and 
Authorized to hear try and Determine the Same 
he shall forfeit the Sum of two hundred pounds 
Currant mony of this Province one half to his 
Ma'ty for and towards the Support of the Gov- 
ernm't and the other half to the Informer who 
shall sue for ye Same in any Court of Record 
w'thin this province wherein no Essoyn protec- 
tion or wager of Law shall be allowed and Such 
person shall be further punished by being Set in 
ye pillory on three Sever all dayes and also be 
bound to the good behavior at the discretion of 
the Court. And be it further Enacted by the Au- 
thority aforesaid That it shall and may be Law- 
full to and for every Justice of the peace to cause 
any person or persons Suspected of being a 
Jesuit, Seminary Preist or of the Romish Clergy 
to be apprehended & Convented before himself & 
Some other of his Ma'tys Justices and if Such 
person do not give Sattisfactory acco't of him- 
self he shall be Committed to prison in order to 
a Tryall also it shall and may be Lawfull to and 



210 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

for any person or persons to app'rehend w'thout 
a warrant any Jesuit Seminary preist or other of 
the Romish Clergy as aforesaid and to Convent 
him before ye Gov'r or any two of the Council 
to be Examined and Imprisoned in order to a 
Tryall unless he give a Sattisfactory acco't of 
himself and as it will be Esteemed and accepted 
as a good Service don for ye King by the person 
who shall Seiz & apprehend any Jesuit Preist 
missionary or Romish Ecclesiactick as aforesaid 
So the Gov'r of this province for ye time being 
w'th ye advice & Consent of the Council may 
Suitably reward him as they think fitt. Pro- 
vided this act shall not Extend or be Construed 
to Extend unto any of the Romish Clergy who 
shall happen to be Shipwrackt, or thro' other ad- 
versity shall be cast on shoure or driven into this 
province, So as he Continue or abide no Longer 
w'thin Same than untill he may have opportunity 
of passage for his Departure. So also as Such 
person Immediately upon his arrivall shall f orth- 
w'th attend ye Gov'r if near to ye place of his 
Residence, or otherwise on one or more of ye 
Council or next Justices of the peace, & acquaint 
y'm w'th his Circumstances & observe ye Direc- 
cons w'ch they shall give him during his stay in 
ye province." 

This act is said to have been suggested and 
drafted by Bellomont. In the council several 
amendments were proposed by Chief Justice 
William Smith. In Bellomont's draft one third 
of the fine imposed on harborers of priests went 
to King William, one third to Bellomont and the 
other third to the informer. As amended, one 
half the fine went to the informer, the other to 



IN OLD NEW YORK 211 

the king for the support of the government. The 
clause providing for the cases of priests forced 
into the province through shipwreck or similar 
cause was an amendment of Smith's, the original 
draft containing no provision for such cases. 
Much to Bellomont's chagrin, the vote on the 
adoption of the act showed a plurality of one 
vote against adoption. Bellomont, voting as a 
member of the council, tied the vote; then voted 
again as presiding officer and passed it, and, as 
Governor, signed it. 

A transport, loaded with red-coated soldiery, 
sailed up the bay in October. The soldiers, a 
body of recruits from Ireland, overflowing with 
animal spirits and jubilant over their release 
from the crowded quarters and strict discipline 
of a troopship, were landed in the city Saturday 
night. As soldiers will, they passed the night in 
carousel and pandemonium reigned in the town. 
" A parcel of the vilest fellows that ever wore 
the King's livery, the very scum of the Army in 
Ireland and several Irish papists among 'em," 
said Bellomont. Later Lieutenant-Governor 
Nanf an assembled them on the parade outside the 
fort and read the act to punish mutineers and 
deserters. He then made up a detachment to 
proceed to Albany to reinforce the companies 
stationed there. A spokesman stepped from 
the ranks and told the Lieutenant-Governor 
that the soldiers would not stir a foot until 
they had received full sterling pay that was 
due them and sea pay during the voyage. This 
declaration was followed by a great tumult. 
Bellomont, in the meantime, had admitted five 
hundred civilians to the fort and had armed them. 



212 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Just as the recruits, led by Corporal Morris, had 
started to enter the fort the gates were slammed 
in their faces. The soldiers were caught un- 
armed and were soon overawed by the strength 
of the garrison. Three quarters of their number 
were placed under arrest, and four of them con- 
demned to be shot. Two, Richard Fleming and 
Jonathan Wilford, were reprieved, and the other 
two. Corporal Morris and Robert Cotteral, who 
had been an Ensign in King James' Irish army, 
fell before the guns of a firing party. 

The Governor next directed his attention to 
the spiritual welfare of the red men. In a letter 
to the Lords of Trade he urged the sending over 
of missionaries. He wrote: " They must be men 
of sober and exemplary lives and good scholars, 
or they will not be fit to instruct the Indians and 
encounter the Jesuits in point of argument. I 
should advise their being both settled at the in- 
tended Fort: and for their encouragement they 
ought to have one hundred and fifty pounds a 
year salarie, aj^iece, Sterl. money. Without a 
Fort 'tis next to impossible to prevail with the 
/ ministers to live among the Indians : they are so 
nasty as never to wash their hands or the utensils 
they dress their victuals with & their food is 
(some of it) loathsome to the last degree; tho' 
they eat great store of venison, pidgeons and 
fish ; yet bear's flesh is a great part of their diet ; 
and when they feast themselves and their friends 
a dog is esteemed with them a princely dish." 

The Canadian civil and religious authorities 
were bitterly opposed to the coureurs de hois be- 
cause of the loose lives they led in the wilderness, 
and this may have prompted Jean de Noyon and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 213 

Louis Gosselin to journey down to New York 
and assure the authorities that they represented 
the French coureurs de hois, who, they asserted, 
were dissatisfied with the condition of affairs in 
New France and would bring their trade to Al- 
bany. They further promised to lead to New 
York ten or twelve Ottawa sachems, but there 
is no evidence of any increased trade in Albany 
about that time or of any big Ottawa delegation 
visiting New York. 

The Mayor and Aldermen petitioned the Gov- 
ernor and council in December demanding the 
release from slavery of a free-born Indian 
woman of Caracas, held in bondage by Edward 
Antill, a prominent and wealthy citizen. 

When piracy flourished in New York, an ap- 
peal was made to the home government to send a 
warship to put down the nefarious traffic. Ow- 
ing to a lack of ships and money, no government 
vessel, it was announced, was available. Several 
noblemen, among them the Earl of Bellomont, 
formed a stock company for the suppression of 
piracy. King William subscribed £3,000, but 
forgot or neglected to pay in his subscription. 
An armed vessel was fitted out and placed un- 
der the command of Captain William Kidd of 
New York. The aim and object of the corpora- 
tion was unique. Pirate vessels were to be cap- 
tured and the value of their cargoes divided 
among the stockholders. Kidd's vessel sailed 
from Bristol for New York in 1696. He after- 
wards proceeded to the East Indian and African 
coasts. It is said that his crew compelled him to 
abandon his instructions and enter on a career of 
piracy. The assertion is also made that he but 



214 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

followed his secret instructions in entering on 
this career. He returned to New York in 1698 
with an immense booty. He proceeded openly to 
Boston, was arrested by Bellomont's order on a 
charge of piracy and murder, and sent to Eng- 
land for trial. He was tried and executed in 
1701. It required all the influence and power of 
King William and his government to suppress a 
parliamentary investigation of the afl'air that 
would have shaken the throne. 

Bellomont died in New York March 3rd, 1701, 
and his body, buried in the chapel of the fort, 
finally found a resting place in St. Paul's church- 
yard. 

Robert Livingston, in a letter to the Lords of 
Trade, in May, 1701, wrote: " And there is good 
reason to suspect that Monsr. de Iberville the last 
summer came hither in his fourth rate man of 
war from Misasipi of purpose to sound our chan- 
nel, which his men in boats performed every day 
near a month together without interruption." 
Livingston's suspicions were well founded. 
D 'Iberville, in 1701, submitted to the French 
government a memorial in which he outlined a 
campaign for the conquest of Boston and its de- 
pendencies. The document exhibits a remarkable 
knowledge of the English possessions from Bos- 
ton to Albany and its description of New York 
city and its bay is interesting; " The entrance 
into the river at New York is difficult for the 
space of two leagues as far as Isle auoo Lapins 
(Coney Island), where but sixteen or seventeen 
feet of water are to be found, following the sin- 
uosities of the channel and where tacking is im- 
possible. It is four leagues from Isle aux 



IN OLD NEW YORK 215 

Lapins to New York, where there is plenty of 
water. The passage hes between Long and 
Staten Islands, which are half a league apart. 
... If operations are confined to bombarding 
that town, which is very handsome, and contains 
six hundred houses, all very neat brick buildings, 
with two churches and one Jewish synagogue, 
that project does not appear to me to be very 
difficult; and a large force is not necessary to 
destroy that town, which is very wealthy and 
filled with merchandise, unless a small island 
within a quarter of a league of the place [Gov- 
ernor's Island] should have been fortified. This 
would prevent the bombardment and protect the 
city, unless a passage were effected beyond it at 
the expense of a few cannon shot." 

In this year, just eighteen years after a Cath- 
olic governor, acting for a Catholic proprietor, 
had proclaimed toleration towards all Christians 
and called a popular assembly, the province 
enacted a law by which " all Papists and Popish 
recusants are prohibited from voting for mem- 
bers of assembly or any office whatever from 
thenceforth and forever." There was friction 
between England and France at this time, and 
suspicious strangers were closely watched. One 
Ousterhouse, an outward-bound passenger in the 
ship " Happy Peace," was, on order of the coun- 
cil, searched on suspicion of being the bearer of 
letters to the French minister, M. Ponchartrain. 

England declared war, known as the War of 
the Spanish Succession, against France and 
Spain in 1702, and during the eleven years of 
strife many French and Spanish prizes and pris- 
oners were taken into New York. 



216 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, assumed 
the duties of Governor of New York and New 
Jersey JNIay 3rd. His administration was chiefly 
distinguished for its " intolerance, licentiousness, 
dishonesty and misrule." Although a nephew 
of King James' by marriage, he was one of the 
first to desert him and join the Prince of Orange. 
In 1708 he was removed from the office of gov- 
ernor, in compliance with the protests of the 
people, and was immediately thrown into prison 
by his creditors. On the death of his father, the 
Earl of Clarendon, he paid his debts and ex- 
changed his prison cell for a seat in the House of 
Lords. The Reverend Thoroughgood Moore, 
sent out as an Indian missionary by the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts, while officiating in his ministerial capacity 
at Burlington, N. J., " was so scandalized at the 
indecent conduct of Lord Cornbury and his 
Lieutenant-Governor [Ingoldsby] that he re- 
fused to admit the latter to the Lord's supper and 
was cast into jail in consequence. Moore, some 
time afterwards, contemplating returning to 
England, was warned of the danger of falling 
into the hands of the French. He replied that he 
would rather be taken prisoner to France than 
into the fort in New York. 

A big Spanish ship bound from Cadiz to 
Havana was, while off the latter port, sighted 
by three New York privateers, boarded and 
captured by the men of Captain Clavear's ship. 
She proved to have a rich cargo of wine, oil and 
fruit, and carried sixty passengers, including 
two " Fryers." On the arrival of the prize in 
New York, twenty of the passengers landed and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 217 

were entertained by John Hutchins, at govern- 
ment expense, but the ecclesiastics seem to have 
been kept on shipboard until exchanged or other- 
wise disposed of. 

The news that the redoubtable D 'Iberville had 
taken the island of Nevis, coupled with a rumor 
that he was about to transfer his operations to 
the English colonies' seaports, particularly New 
York, caused a panic in the city in 1706. The 
" French scare " occupied public attention to the 
exclusion of every other topic. The fort was 
hastily patched up ; the Board of Admiralty en- 
couraged privateering; a line of stockades was 
erected across the island. Three batteries were 
thrown up on the East River shore and three on 
the North River. In compliance with a sugges- 
tion of Cornbury's, the legislature voted an ap- 
propriation of fifteen hundred pounds, nemine 
contradicente, for fortifying the Narrows, with 
which sum his lordship subsequently erected a 
summer residence on Nutten Island. 

A French privateer, the " Queen Ann," ap- 
peared off Sandy Hook July 26th, and when the 
citizens discovered that no move had been made 
to erect the Narrows forts there was great anxi- 
ety and indignation in the town. A dispatch 
from the Governor of Maryland, that several 
large French ships, having seven merchantmen 
as prizes, were off the Virginia capes, bound 
north, caused consternation. Since May, all the 
able-bodied citizens had been working with pick 
and shovel, throwing up fortifications. A cap- 
tured French man-of-war, renamed " Triton's 
Prize," was fitted out, and another ship, manned 
by citizens, sailed outside the Hook, but when the 



218 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

citizen sailors caught sight of the French ship, 
twenty miles outside, they promptly refused to 
meet her and sailed for home. The " Triton's 
Prize " engaged the " Queen Ann," and at the 
close of an all-day fight the Frenchman withdrew. 

Two days later a dispatch from Staten Island 
announced that ten large French privateers had 
anchored within Sandy Hook. The New York- 
ers were panic-stricken. Every militia colonel 
was ordered to march his command to the de- 
fense of New York, and then it was discovered 
that the ten large French privateers were prizes, 
taken from the French and brought into port by 
Captain Adrian Clavear. 

Morris Newinhuysen, the mate of the sloop 
" Constant Abigail," brought a story to the city 
in 1707 that threw the French Protestants into a 
great turmoil. The " Constant Abigail " was 
taken by a French privateer, Nov. 6th, 1706, off 
Scilly. According to Newinhuysen's story, the 
boatswain of the sloop and a French privateers- 
man, in overhauling the sloop's papers and mail- 
pouch, found a letter directed to some one in 
Rochelle, France. Newinhuysen charged that 
this letter was written by Captain Benjamin 
Fanueil, one of the pillars of the Huguenot 
church in New York. In this epistle, asserted 
Newinhuysen, Fanueil had told his French cor- 
resjjondent that if the French squadron that took 
Nevis had come to New York, it would have en- 
countered less resistance. This looked like giv- 
ing information to the enemy in time of war, an 
imputation that these French residents could not 
afford to permit to pass unchallenged. They ap- 
pealed to Corbury for an investigation, and the 
council declared the charges unfounded. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 219 

A French flag of truce party from Canada, 
consisting of Herlel, Sieur de Chambly, Jean 
Des Landes, Louis Soljett, Rene Coulon, Jean 
Baptist Morriseau, and Jean Baptist d'Hercourt, 
came down to New York and lodged for a time 
in Henry Swift's house. Having transacted 
their business, the council issued a safe conduct 
for their return to Canada. 

The Rev. John Talbot wrote from New York 
in 1708: " I saw Mr. Bradford (the printer) in 
New York. He tells me that Mass is set up and 
read publicly in Philadelphia, and several people 
are turned to it, amongst which Lionell Brittin, 
the churchwarden, is one and his son is another. 
I thought that Popery would come in amongst 
Friends, the Quakers, as soon as any way." 

Among the many Spanish and French pris- 
oners carried to New York during this war were 
two Spanish priests, Padre Freay and Padre 
Pascoal, who, with a companion or attendant, 
Thomas Strada, were lodged by the authorities 
in the house of Elizabeth Cole, the widow of a 
former messenger of the council. As to whence 
these priests came and how long their captivity 
lasted the records are silent. 

John, Lord Lovelace, the descendant of one of 
Sir Francis Drake's companions in his maraud- 
ing expeditions, and one of the first noblemen of 
consequence to desert King James, arrived in 
New York December 18th, 1T08. His brief but 
honorable career as governor was terminated by 
his death in New York, May 6th, 1709. Among 
the retinue of servants that came with him to 
New York were two Palatines, the precursors 
of a mighty army of Germans that followed in 
succeeding years. 



220 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS. 



CHAPTER XI 

IN WHICH MANY OF THE " POOR PERSECUTED 
PROTESTANS " FROM THE PALATINATE ARE 
DISCOVERED TO BE " PAPISTS " 

With the coming of the Palatines to New 
York began on a large scale the loss to the Cath- 
olic Church that has from that day to the present 
assumed appalling proportions. There are two 
Palatinates, the Upper, or Bavarian, and the 
Lower, known as the Palatinate of the Rhine, or 
Pfalz. The immigrants to New York came from 
the latter, which contained less than thirty-five 
hundred square miles. Its capital was Heidel- 
berg, and the principal cities Mayence, Spires, 
Mannheim and Worms. It was governed by the 
Rudolphine line from 1294 to 1559, then passed 
to the house of Zimmern, which, in turn, was suc- 
ceeded by the house of Neuberg. Nearly every 
succession to the throne meant a change in the 
sect of the ruler, either Lutheran or Calvinist, 
and those changes involved the petty persecution 
of Protestant by Protestant. " Luther and Cal- 
vin, Knox and Cranmer, and even the Puritans of 
New England," says Cobb, in the " Story of the 
Palantines," " acknowledged as vital the princi- 
ple that the state could interfere in the religion 
of the subject." John William, Duke of Neu- 
berg, a Catholic, ascended the throne in 1690 and 
ended the warring of the sects by issuing a decla- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 221 

ration for liberty of conscience ; but greater wars 
had waged for six years, and continued for twen- 
ty-three years longer, with but four years in- 
terval of peace, to impoverish his people and 
destroy his possessions. During the wars of the 
Grand Alliance and of the Spanish Succession, 
the Palatinate was ravaged by French and Ger- 
man armies. 

Doubtless this was the principal cause that led 
to the exodus ; in fact, the Protestant Consistory 
of the Palatinate declared that the Palatines had 
no other grievances to complain of " than what 
is natural to the meaner sort of people of all 
countries and nations, viz., those of poverty." 
English attention was first called to the Palatines 
by the publication, in London, in 1699, of a 
pamphlet entitled, " A True Account of the Sad 
Condition of the Protestants in the Palatinate. 
In two letters by an English Gentleman." This 
publication was a rabidly bigoted attack on the 
Catholic ruler. Prior to 1708, the ravages of war 
and the blighting of the grape-vines reduced the 
Palatines to extremity. The Reverend Joshua 
Kockerthal, a Protestant minister of the Palati- 
nate, applied to Mr. Davrelle, the British repre- 
sentative at Frankfort, in February, 1708, for 
passes to America and money for sixty-one per- 
sons. Mr. Davrelle refused to grant the request, 
and for so doing was commended by Queen 
Anne's government; " though the desire to have 
those poor people to settle in the plantations is 
very acceptable and would be for the public good, 
yet she [Queen Anne] can by no means consent " 
without the Elector Palatine's consent and ap- 
proval. 



222 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Nevertheless the Reverend Joshua Kockerthal, 
without obtaining anyone's pubHc consent, landed 
with his party at Whitehall in the spring of 1708, 
and their odd attire, shovel hats, quaint garments 
and wooden shoes attracted considerable atten- 
tion. An order in council, of May, permit- 
ter Mr. Kockerthal and forty of his followers to 
proceed to New York, to be settled somewhere 
on the banks of the Hudson River, " where they 
may be useful to this kingdom, particularly in 
the production of naval stores and as a frontier 
against the French and Indians." There is 
frankness at least about this declaration of an 
intention to make a " frontier " of these " poor 
persecuted Palatines," but as an example of dis- 
interested philanthropy it is not impressive. 

In June, fourteen more were added to the 
party, and in July Kockerthal applied to the 
Queen for a salary and a bounty of £20, usually 
given to a missionary bound for foreign parts, 
with which to buy a suitable outfit. The £20 was 
granted, the salary refused, but Lord Lovelace 
was instructed to give Kockerthal a grant of 
land. Kockerthal and his party reached New 
York in December, and some months later were 
settled on a grant of twenty-one hundred and 
ninety acres on the west bank of the Hudson 
River, at and adjacent to the site of the city 
of Newburgh. The Queen's government had 
granted this party free transportation to New 
York, lands free of tax or quit-rent, seed, agri- 
cultural tools and furniture, and had agreed to 
subsist the settlers for one year, or until they had 
gathered their first harvest. Nothing could have 
been more generous than this treatment, and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 223 

Kockerthal, having settled his people in their 
new homes, hurried back to the Palatinate to 
gather another party. There were mysterious 
influences at work in the Palatinate that in 
their methods are strikingly similar to those 
employed by the modern land-boomer and 
suburban development enterprise. A pamphlet 
was distributed widespread over the country 
that was known to the Palatines as the " Golden 
Book." It bore a portrait of Queen Anne 
and its title-page was printed in letters of gold. 
It invited and encouraged the Palatines to 
come to England, to be shipped thence to the 
Carolinas or other American colonies. A philan- 
thropic unknown, accompanied by his servant, ap- 
peared in Rotterdam among the refugees and 
distributed, with the liberality of a canvasser for 
some suburban-lot boom, free passes to Eng- 
land. 

The printing-press and orator all over Eng- 
land had touched the hearts of the people with 
the story of the wrongs of these " poor perse- 
cuted Protestant Palatines." Parliament took 
the matter in hand, and in March, 1709, passed 
an act providing for the naturalization of for- 
eign Protestants. With inconceivable rapidity 
this news reached the Palatinate, and the people 
began pouring in a stream from all parts of Ger- 
many towards Rotterdam, supported on the way 
by charity, seeking shipment to England. 

Early in the spring a band of two hundred 
and ten families and eighteen unmarried persons 
crossed to England. Lord Sunderland wrote 
the Board of Trade, at the Queen's request, ad- 
vising that some method be found to enable the 



224 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Palatines to get a comfortable livelihood in Eng- 
land instead of sending them to America. In 
order to be in a position to handle the matter sys- 
tematically and intelligently, a committee con- 
sisting of two Lutheran ministers was appointed 
in May to inquire into the condition, means of 
livelihood and religion of the two hundred and 
ten families and eighteen individuals. There was 
embarrassment and dismay when the committee's 
report was made public. Of this band of " poor 
persecuted Protestant Palatines," whose ex- 
penses to England had been paid to rescue them 
from the cruelty of their Catholic ruler, thirty- 
three of the families and three of the unmarried 
persons declared they were Catholics. Dur- 
ing JNIay, ships from Rotterdam were landing 
bands of Palatines in England, and barns, tents, 
warehouses and all kinds of unoccupied struct- 
ures were secured for their shelter by the gov- 
ernment. A band of 1,193 of the refugees ar- 
rived at Walworth, and. May 27th, a census 
taken of their religious belief disclosed 154 of 
the Reformed Church, 120 Lutherans, and 919 
Catholics. By June, the total of the arrivals in 
England was about 10,000, and this immense 
public charge, together with the high percentage 
of " Papists," alarmed the government and dis- 
gusted the people. Orders were sent to Holland 
to ship no more to England; but, notwithstand- 
ing, three thousand came and still more followed. 
The Elector Palatine was deeply offended by 
this wholesale desertion, and the States- General 
of the Netherlands instructed its minister in 
Germany to stop the exodus. 

A Parliamentary investigating committee was 



IN OLD NEW YORK 225 

appointed to discover who was encouraging the 
emigration, but it failed to fix the blame, al- 
though Henry Torne, a Quaker of Rotterdam, 
who, strange to say, was a subordinate of Mr. 
Davrelle's, the British agent, was suspected. It 
was deemed advisable, in taking the census of the 
arrivals, after the mortifying disclosure of May 
27th, to drop the query as to religious affiliation. 
Mr. Davrelle evidently had " his knuckles 
rapped " for sending over " Papists." In a let- 
ter of June 11th, to Mr. Secretary Boyle, he 
acknowledged that there were a great many 
" Papists " among the refugees in Holland, 
whom, notwithstanding, he had sent to England. 
There was but one thing to do to get rid of them. 
The Catholics, or those among them who 
acknowledged their faith, were shipped back to 
Holland and received ten shillings each to assist 
them on their return journey. Human nature is 
weak, and very many of the Catholics, warned 
by the fate of those who declared their faith, 
denied it. The situation had afforded a fertile 
field for the proselytizer, and he had been busy. 
Catholicity was very decidedly under the ban in 
England under " good Queen Anne," and priests 
were few; but in this emergency there was one 
unnamed hero, " the chaplain of one of the for- 
eign ministers resident in London," who was so 
truly an apostle to the Palatines as to merit the 
condemnation of the bigoted pamphleteers of the 
day. 

It became apparent in July that something 
must be done to raise funds for the maintenance 
of the refugees, and the Queen appointed com- 
missioners and trustees to solicit and disburse 



226 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

money contributed, to secure employnient, and 
settle them in homes. The amount raised by pop- 
ular subscription was £300,000. The Lord Lieu- 
tenant and Council of Ireland asked that the 
Palatines be sent to them, and 3,800 were shipped 
to that kingdom. For their support £24,000 was 
appropriated from the Irish revenues, but 232 
families returned to England because the com- 
missary of the fund failed to pay them the al- 
lowance for their subsistence. The Board of 
Trade, in August, reported favorably on the 
matter of settling more Palatines on waste land 
on the banks of the Hudson River; they to be 
supplied with implements of husbandry and 
hardware for building timber houses, and to be 
given, each, a grant of land under certain condi- 
tions. The location of their settlement to be 
chosen, " whereby they will be a good barrier be- 
tween Her Majesty's subjects and the French & 
their Indians in those parts, and in process of ^ 
time by intermarrying with the neighboring In- 
dians (as the French do) they may be Capable 
of rendring very great Service to Her Majesty's 
Subjects there." It was further mentioned that 
these " good barriers " would be useful in the fur 
trade and production of naval stores. 

Everything was not lovely, in the meantime, 
on the banks of the Hudson. The Kockerthal 
party, that had settled near the site of New- 
burgh, petitioned the authorities, September 
23rd, for the balance of their allowance of pro- 
visions, amounting to nine pence per day, as they 
were in " great want." Other Palatines who 
might voyage to America were not to be granted 
any such " gilt edged " terms as the Kockerthal 



IN OLD NEW YORK 227 

party. In December, the Attorney General pre- 
pared for the body of emigrants then making 
ready to sail in the spring for New York with 
Governor Robert Hunter, who was to succeed 
Lord Lovelace, a covenant in which the Palatines 
agreed that, having been " subsisted, maintained 
and supported ... by the great and christian 
charity of her Majesty, the Queen and many of 
her good subjects," and her Majesty having or- 
dered the loan of a considerable sum of money 
for transporting, maintaining and settling them 
in the province of New York, they would labor, 
produce, and manufacture all manner of needful 
stores, and were to receive, as soon as they had 
repaid the government for its expenditures on 
their behalf, a grant of forty acres of land free 
from all taxes, quit-rents, " or other manner of 
service for seven years from the date of such 
grant." . . . They further agreed to settle with 
their families in the places allotted to them, and 
" not upon any account or manner of pretense 
quit or desert without leave from ye govern- 
ment," and not to engage in woolen manu- 
facture. 

John Frederic Haeger, a Palatine minister, 
having been highly recommended to the Society 
for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts as 
a proper person to minister to the emigrants, 
was " put into Holy Orders " by the Bishop of 
London, given a salary of <£50 per annum, the 
usual <£10 for outfit, and £5 for books. 

In June, 1710, after a voyage of storm, 
wretchedness and misery, the ten emigrant ships, 
carrying about three thousand Palatines, that had 
left England with Governor Hunter straggled 



228 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

into New York. No less than 470 of them had 
found graves in the deep. There was no accom- 
modation for such a number in the Httle city, 
and its inhabitants feared the new-comers might 
cause a " mahgnant distemper," so they were fer- 
ried over to Nutten Island and housed in rude 
huts the carpenters of the city had hastily erected. 
A month later there was an order in council is- 
sued that caused grief and anger. Sixty-eight 
orphans and children whose parents were unable 
to support them were taken from the island by 
the provincial officials and apprenticed to fam- 
ilies in the city and neighboring towns. Gov- 
ernor Hunter journeyed up the Hudson to find 
land in the northern part of the province suitable 
for the settlement of his charges. Tracts in vari- 
ous parts were offered him, but he fell into the 
hands of land speculators, and Robert Liv- 
ingston sold him a tract on the river about eight 
miles below the present city of Hudson, and also 
obtained from him a contract for victualling 
the settlers. The land was rocky and barren, 
unsuitable for the production of naval or any 
kind of stores. In September, 2,275 of the un- 
fortunate people journeyed up the river to their 
new home, two hundred and fifty having died 
since their arrival in New York. 

The Reverend John Frederic Haeger, the spir- 
itual shepherd of the immigrants, was not slow in 
beginning his labors. He wrote to the Society 
for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 
October 28th, " I instructed fifty- two in the 
fundamentals of our religion according to the 
Church Catechism; among them were thirteen 
Papists." In spite of the weeding-out process 



IN OLD NEW YORK 229 

that sent so many Catholics back to Rotterdam, 
here are thirteen out of fifty-two acknowledging 
that they were " Papists." 

Governor Hunter had expended a good part 
of his private fortune in caring for the Palatines, 
and had, trusting the government at home to en- 
dorse his action, signed heavy contracts for their 
subsistence. It was with dismay he learned, in 
October, that there had been a change in the gov- 
ernment and that the new ministry refused to 
pay any of his bills. The change of ministry 
produced many other changes in the fortunes of 
the Palatines and of public feeling towards 
them. A pamphlet was published in London, in 
1711, with the title: "A View of the Queen's 
and Kingdom's Enemies in the Case of the Poor 
Palatines." It declared that 10,000 Palatines 
had arrived in England between May 1st and 
July 18th, 1709, and that the expense of their 
maintenance had increased from <£16 to £100 a 
day. The Queen had issued letters patent to raise 
charitable contributions " for those distressed 
Protestants who were more than half of them 
Papists." The £300,000 raised for them was an 
incredible amount, it asserted, to be contributed 
by people under a twenty years' war burden, 
" for a parcel of vagabonds who might have lived 
comfortably enough in their native country, had 
not the laziness of their dispositions and the re- 
port of our well-known generosity drawn them 
out of it. . . . For as to their pretence to come 
hither purely for the exercise of their religion, 
there was nothing in it, though some were in- 
duced to relieve them on account of their pre- 
tended persecutions." 



230 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

A petition of ministers, churchwardens, and 
inhabitants of St. Olave, Southwark, and ad- 
jacent parishes in London was presented in the 
House of Commons against the presence of the 
Palatines in their parishes, on the ground that 
there were dangerous disturbers amongst them 
and that they feared the outbreak of a contagious 
distemper. A committee of the House was ap- 
pointed to inquire upon whose invitation the 
Palatines came over; what moneys were ex- 
pended in bringing them, and by whom paid, and 
permission was given to bring in a bill to repeal 
the act naturalizing foreign Protestants. The 
parliamentary committee in due time reported to 
the House that the whole charge occasioned by 
the Palatines was £135,775. 18. oy^, and the 
House " Resolved that the inviting over into this 
Kingdom the poor Palatines of all religions at 
the public expense, was an extravagant and mis- 
erable charge to the Kingdom and a scandalous 
misapplication of the public money, tending to 
the increase and oppression of the poor of the 
Kingdom and of dangerous consequences to 
the constitution of church and state. Resolved 
that whosoever advised the bringing over of the 
poor Palatines into the Kingdom was an enemy to 
the Queen and this Kingdom." 

In the parliamentary inquiry the fact was 
elicited that, notwithstanding the great sum of 
money expended for them, the Palatines had " no 
subsistence but what they got by their wives beg- 
ging on the streets." Hard as was the lot of the 
Palatines in Southwark, Black Heath and Cam- 
berwell, it was an easy existence compared with 
that of their brethren on the Livingston Manor 



IN OLD NEW YORK 231 

tract up the Hudson River. By the spring of 
1711, they had discovered that they had virtually 
been sold into slavery. If they had labored 
day after day far beyond the natural term of 
human life they could not possibly produce 
sufficient naval stores to pay their debt to the 
government and become owners of the prom- 
ised forty acres of land, for the reason that naval 
stores cannot profitably be produced from north- 
ern pine. 

The barren Livingston Manor tract vt^as un- 
suitable for raising crops or even grazing cattle. 
Every promise made the unfortunates was 
broken, and three hundred men, hurried for mili- 
tary duty in the Canadian campaign and Albany 
garrison, received no pay, and on their return 
found their families starving. The settlers were 
forced to pay the salaries of an army of over- 
seers, commissaries and clerks, and were cheated 
in the quality and quantity of their provisions. 
To crown all. Governor Hunter notified them 
that he could no longer subsist them and they 
must shift for themselves. 

The Reverend Mr. Haeger continued his mis- 
sionary work despite his people's trials, and July 
8th, 1713, wrote to the Society: " The number of 
persons instructed in our Church Catechism and 
true principles of Christianity and admitted to 
the Lord's Supper (part whereof are come to 
such competent age as is required and part are 
such as left the errors of the Church of Rome) 
are 113." The following year, in a report to the 
Society, he wrote that his flock was scattered 
along the Hudson, in settlements known as 
Hunterstown, Queenstown, Annsburg, Hays- 



232 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

bury, Newtown, Georgetown, Elizabethtown and 
at Schoharie ; that he had 380 communicants, and 
" No. of Papist famihes — one." These Cathohc 
immigrants, and a goodly number must have 
landed in New York, deprived of a spiritual 
guide and of the consolations of their religion, 
affiliated with one or other of the sects or slept in 
unconsecrated graves. The Palatines, driven to 
desperation by their wrongs, cleft a way through 
the wilderness to Schoharie, and were there per- 
secuted by the Provincial officials and a band of 
scheming Albany land-speculators; but, be- 
friended by the heathen red men, they prospered. 
Many of them found their way to that haven of 
the oppressed, Pennsylvania, and as time passed 
on were absorbed in the growing population. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 233 



CHAPTER XII 

IN WHICH THE ENSLAVING OF SPANISH FREEMEN 
LEADS TO A BLOODY RECKONING 

The French prisoners of war, who had been 
permitted a certain amount of hberty, within 
bounds, in the city, were, in June, 1709, probably 
because of some danger apprehended from their 
ever-increasing numbers, ordered by the council 
to be ferried across the river and marched to 
Flatbush and Hempstead, for their, and the 
city's, greater security. 

An expedition against New France, by land 
and sea, was planned, but failed. Four of the 
five cantons of the Iroquois were induced to take 
the war path against the French. Father Peter 
de Mareuil, S.J., who had come from France to 
the Canadian mission in 1706, went to Onondaga 
to assist Father Lamberville in 1709. John 
Schuyler, a brother of Peter Schuyler, visited 
Father Lamberville and won his confidence. He 
expressed sincere regret that the Five Nations 
had dug up the war hatchet and advised the 
Jesuit to hurry to Canada to confer over the 
situation with Governor- General Vaudreuil. 
Father Lamberville had no sooner left the castle 
than Schuyler incited a band of drunken savages 
to plunder the mission-house and chapel and to 
burn them. With protestations of sj^mpathy and 



234 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

friendship and expressions of fear for the safety 
of his hfe, Schuyler persuaded Father de 
Mareuil to accompany him to Albany, but con- 
cealed from him that on June 29th the provincial 
authorities had issued an order for his arrest. 
Bellomont's savage law against Jesuits was still 
on the statute books, but, strange as it may seem, 
Father de Mareuil was treated with kindness and 
consideration in Albany, and June 23rd the 
House of Assembly ordered " That the Com- 
missioners for managing the Expedition to 
Canada, &c., do take care a decent Provision be 
made for the French Jesuit and a Servant that 
surrendered tliemselves to this government from 
the Indians, as the Governor and Council shall 
direct." Father de Mareuil was later sent down 
the river to New York city, and at every settle- 
ment he noted the busy preparations for the ex- 
pedition that Ingoldsby was to lead, made up of 
New York and New Jersey levies, against 
Vaudreuil at Chambly, but which never got fur- 
ther north than Wood Creek. The council min- 
utes, dated June 25th, 1709, contain the follow- 
ing: " It is the opinion of this Board that Flatt 
Bush on Long Island is a proper place to send 
ye French Priest to and that his Man be sent 
to Hamstead on the Sd. Island, that they be sev- 
erally charged not to go above a mile from the 
house they are respectively lodged in nor with- 
out some one of the inhabitants of the Town 
with them, and that they be not out of their lodg- 
ings any evening after sunsett, and that they be 
told they are at liberty to write to their friends, 
sending their letters oppen to the Government 
to be Perused and sent away, and that what let- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 235 

ters are sent to them shall come safe to their 
hands after they have been read by the Govern- 
ment, that so long as they behave themselves well 
they shall be civilly treated." 

These regulations, adopted by a board having 
charge of prisoners of war, were, no doubt, for- 
mulated for Father de Mareuil and his servant, 
in expectation of their arrival from Albany. 
Later Father de Mareuil was exchanged for 
Lieutenant Barent Staats, a law relative of Peter 
Schuyler, and he reached Montreal in April, 
1711. 

The number of Spanish prisoners was in- 
creased in 1710 by the privateers " Samuel " and 
" Kingston " bringing into port as a prize the 
great Spanish ship " Sto Christo del Burgo," 
laden with cocoa, and the number of French pris- 
oners was reduced by the departure of a flag-of- 
truce vessel for Port Boyal. A slave market was 
established at the foot of Wall Street in 1711, 
and it was ordered " that slaves for hire stand in 
rank in the market place foot of Wall Street." 
Many an intelligent South and Central Amer- 
ican Catholic Indian, kidnapped from his home 
and unlawfully sold into slavery by unprin- 
cipled New York privateersmen, has stood there 
among the black heathen just arrived from the 
African jungle. 

Undiscouraged by Vetch's abortive expedition 
against New France, the home and colonial gov- 
ernments had been gathering soldiers, supplies, 
munitions of war and provisions for a supreme 
effort against the northern enemy. Nicholson 
had come from England to lead the soldiery of 
New York and its neighbors against Chambly, 



236 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and Brigadier General John Hill, in command 
of Seymour's, Kane's, Clayton's, Kirk's, Dis- 
ney's, Windresse's and Redding's regiments, re- 
inforced by levies from INIassachusetts, New 
Hampshire, and Rhode Island, were to be car- 
ried in a great fleet of transports, convoyed 
by a squadron of warships under command of 
Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker. The warships, 
" Feversham," 36 guns, and " Lowestoft," 32 
guns, with transports, were sent from New York 
to the rendezvous at Nantucket. The great fleet 
entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, 
August 22nd, and ran into a dense fog bank. 
Paradis, an experienced St. Lawrence River pilot 
who had been taken by Walker from a prize, was 
piloting the fleet, but Walker suspected him of 
treachery and interfered with him. As a conse- 
quence, eight of the transports and a provision 
ship were driven on the north shore near the 
Seven Islands at half past ten o'clock at night, 
and about two thousand were drowned. Of the 
soldiers, 884 were lost and 499 saved. Among 
the lost were a number of Scotch families who 
had purj^osed settling in Canada after the con- 
quest. At a consultation held on the flagship 
after the disaster, it was decided to abandon the 
expedition, and a notification to that effect was 
sent to Nicholson, who fell back from the north- 
ern border. When news of the shipwreck 
reached Quebec, Governor Vaudreuil dispatched 
several barques to the scene of the disaster. 
These returned laden with spoils from the 
wrecked ships and reported finding articles of 
Catholic devotion in the wreckage. 

Governor Hunter was confounded by this dis- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 237 

aster, and he was further overwhelmed, later in 
the year, by the tidings that the " Fever sham " 
and " Lowestoft," the two warships that had 
sailed from New York, had been wrecked Octo- 
ber 7th, with the three transports, " Joseph," 
" Mary " and " Neptune," on the coast of Cape 
Breton. In November, the little fishing ketch 
" Le Talente " sailed up the harbor and landed in 
New York city the lieutenant, master and forty- 
eight of the crew of the wrecked vessels. All the 
other officers and 102 of the crew were lost. The 
master of the ketch, Denis Courten de St. Aig- 
nan, had fallen in with the wrecked crews of the 
" Feversham " and the transports off Cape Bre- 
ton. He agreed, for the sum of <£2,400, to jet- 
tison his cargo of fish in order to make accom- 
modations for the fifty men, and to carry them 
to Boston. They compelled him to change his 
course and take them to New York, where the 
stipulated sum was paid. Four of the shipwrecked 
crew had been left behind, having wandered from 
the main body and been lost on Cape Breton. 
De St. Aignan offered to return to the island 
and search for the missing ones, and Governor 
Hunter granted him a safe-conduct pass. He 
sailed for his northern destination and fell in 
with H.M.S. "Hector." Notwithstanding the 
Governor's pass, the captain of the " Hector " 
robbed St. Aignan of seventy pistoles in gold 
and considerable provisions and carried " Le 
Talente " into New York as his prize. There 
seems to have been little to choose in the early 
years of the eighteenth century between some 
British naval commanders and buccaneers, in the 
matter of honesty and fair dealing. De St. Aig- 



238 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

nan ultimately reached Cape Breton and re- 
turned, as the records say that in 1713 he was 
paid £237 for rescuing the crew of the " Low- 
estoft." 

Two French officers, probably the Sieur Rene 
Boucher de la Perriere and Lieutenant Dupuys, 
came to New York, in 1711, under a flag of 
truce, and Governor Hunter, suspecting them to 
be spies, detained them for a time as prisoners 
of war. 

Lieutenant Francis Lebert and two compan- 
ions came to Albany, in June, with a pass from 
Governor Vaudreuil, conducting Johnson Har- 
mon and Simon Barton to Boston and New 
York. Still fearful of spies, Hunter had them 
hurried to New York to keep them under observa- 
tion. Evidently provisions were scarce in New 
York, or the Assembly refused an appropriation, 
because the masters of two sloops applied to the 
council for permission to sail to Guadaloupe and 
Martinique " to load with provisions for the 
French prisoners." 

The population of the city in 1712 was 4,848 
whites and 970 blacks. The number of free 
Spanish Catholic Indians held in slavery was 
constantly increasing, despite the many laws 
enacted to suppress the traffic. A petition for 
their freedom was handed to Governor Hunter, 
soon after his arrival, on behalf of a number of 
freeborn Spaniards captured by privateers and 
sold into slavery. Among the victims was 
Stephen Domingo, a native of Carthagena, who 
had been held as a slave for eight years. Hunter, 
who was a high principled, just official, realized 
the unspeakable injustice of holding freemen in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 239 

bondage, and wrote to the Board of Trade that 
there were " Spaniards unjustly kept in slavery 
here for many years." He discovered that one 
Hosea, held as a slave by Mrs. Wenham, and one 
John, held as a slave by Mr. Vantelburgh, were 
brought to New York as prisoners of war taken 
from a Spanish vessel by a privateer; that they 
were Spanish American Indians and subjects of 
the King of Spain, sold as slaves in New York 
and held in bondage six or seven years, " by 
reason of their colour which is swarthy." If 
swarthiness was the sole reason for condemning 
Spaniards to slavery, how many white men were 
held in bondage? " I secretly pittyed their con- 
dition," wrote the Governor, " but haveing no 
othere evidence of w* they asserted than their 
own words, I had it not in my power to releive 
them." A bloody reckoning was in store for the 
province because of this crime. 

The city had been shocked, in January, 1708, 
by the news from Newtown, Queens County, 
that a well-to-do farmer, William Hallet, Jr., his 
wife and five children, had been murdered in 
their home by their slaves, an Indian man and a 
negro woman. Investigation seemed to indicate 
that the butchery was the result of a slave's con- 
spiracy and that other families in the vicinity had 
been marked for slaughter. So important was 
the case of the slaves considered that the chief 
justice of the province, associate justices and the 
attorney general journeyed to Jamaica to try 
the conspirators. A number of slaves were 
jailed, and as a result of the trial the Indian 
man and negro woman were, February 2nd, exe- 
cuted at Jamaica and, according to the news- 



240 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

paper account of the day, " put to all the tor- 
ment possible for a terror to others, of ever 
attempting the like wickedness." Two other 
slaves were executed as accessories. As a result 
of this conspiracy the city was in terror of a slave 
uprising. It was realized that the presence among 
these ferocious Africans, many of them direct 
from the jungle, of free Spanish American In- 
dians, burning with a sense of the cruel wrong 
done them in reducing them to slavery, with all 
its attendant cruelties and hardships, hopeless of 
redress and with intelligence sufficient to con- 
spire and to lead the negroes against their op- 
pressors, constituted a dreadful menace to the 
community. The Governor, council and assem- 
bly, in October, 1708, passed " An Act for Pre- 
venting the Conspiracy of Slaves." It provided 
that negro, Indian, " or othere slave or slaves " 
that should kill their master or mistress, or any 
other free person, should be tried by three or 
more Justices of the Peace and on conviction 
should " Suffer the pains of Death in such man- 
ner and with such Circumstances as the aggreva- 
tion and Enormity of their Crime in the Judge- 
ment of the Justices aforesaid of those Courts 
shall merit and require. . . ." 

About midnight, Aj)ril 6th, 1712, twenty-three 
dusky forms stole silently from all parts of the 
sleeping city to Crooke's apple orchard, near 
Maiden Lane. Under the shadow of the trees, 
the conspirators, Indian and negro slaves, pro- 
duced many varieties of weapons, a few guns and 
swords, the others, hatchets and butcher's knives. 
A short whispered conference, and Coffee, a 
slave of ]Mr. Vantelburgh, the owner of John, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 241 

the free Spanish American Indian, stole silently 
away in the darkness to the premises of his mas- 
ter near by. Approaching an outhouse, he pro- 
duced a flame, applied it to the contents of the 
structure, and in a moment a tongue of fire 
lighted up the darkness. He had been followed 
by his fellow conspirators, and as the flames burst 
from the little building the slaves shouted an 
alarm of fire. Roused from sleep, the neighbors 
came, one by one, to the scene, and as they ap- 
proached a spurt of flame from a gun blazed out 
from an ambush, and the half awakened man 
dropped in his tracks. Others were surrounded 
by the infuriated slaves and hacked to death with 
hatchets and knives. Nine whites were killed 
and six badly wounded in this manner. The 
crackling flames, the gun shots, the blood-mad- 
dened, howling slaves become savages, and the 
shouts of "Fire!" and "Murder!" paralyzed 
with fear the people in the vicinity. One or two 
men, retaining their presence of mind, hurried to 
the fort and gave the alarm. The rolling of the 
drums called the soldiers from their slumbers, 
and in a short time a detachment of regulars 
hurried up town at the " double quick." Mean- 
while from coigns of vantage the whites, who 
had armed when they had realized conditions, 
fired rapidly in the direction from which came 
the shots of the slaves. By the time the military 
arrived on the scene the slaves had retreated past 
the Common and the negroes' burial ground and, 
scattering, had found hiding places in the for- 
ests, caves and rocky fastnesses of the northern 
part of Manhattan Island. Next day the city 
was wild with excitement, fearing a general slave 



242 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

insurrection. Regulars were stationed at the fer- 
ries, and the Governor called out the New York 
and Westchester counties' militia " to drive " the 
whole island. 

The slaves, without friends or food, were com- 
pelled to surrender. Six of them, realizing the 
tortures that would follow conviction, commit- 
ted suicide. Search parties dragged to the jail 
every one suspected of complicity in the rising. 
The Special Court quickly condemned twenty- 
seven of the unfortunates to death. It was felt 
that a terrible example must be made of the ring- 
leaders, but it is difficult to realize that in the city 
of New York less than two hundred years ago 
several human beings were burned at the stake, 
one broken on the wheel, one hung in chains until 
he died of starvation, and the balance put to 
death on the scaffold. Governor Hunter did not 
approve of this wholesale slaughter. He wrote 
at the time: " I am informed that in the West In- 
dies where their laws against their slaves are most 
severe, that in case of a conspiracy in which many 
are engaged a few only are executed for an ex- 
ample . . . more have suffered than we can 
find were active in this bloody affair." For this 
reason he reprieved and asked the Queen's par- 
don for the Spanish American Indians Hosea and 
John, who had petitioned him for freedom, and 
two others. The regard in which the negro slaves 
were held about this time by the people of New 
York is set forth in Humphrey's " Account of 
the Society for Propagating the Gospel in For- 
eign Parts": "Frequent discourses were made 
in conversation that they (the negroes) had no 
souls and perished as beasts," 



IN OLD NEW YORK 243 

In the fall of 1712 the sloops " Swallow," 
" Sybell " and " Sunflower," under flags of 
truce, carried a number of French prisoners to 
the West Indies. A general illumination of the 
city followed the receipt of the news that the 
treaty of Utrecht had sealed a peace between 
England, France and Spain. This peace procla- 
mation caused great activity among the rascally 
kidnappers, and complaints were lodged with the 
courts, of attempts to kidnap Spanish prisoners 
of war and " run them off " before an exchange 
could be effected. 

The Lords of Trade had begun to realize 
that the sending of incapable, discredited mis- 
sionaries from England to the Indians was 
useless. In 1715 they wrote to Governor 
Hunter: "And in regard it is of great im- 
portance that the Missionaries sent into Amer- 
ica from hence be men of good lives & Character, 
without which it will be impossible to defeat the 
practise of the French Priests and Jesuits 
amongst our Indians." Truly a most gratify- 
ing, if unintentional, tribute to the sons of St. 
Ignatius ! 

England and Spain were again at war in 1718, 
and in the summer of 1719 Gabriel Dubois Jour- 
dain, a captain of cavalry in Martinique and 
owner of the ship " St. Michael," put into New 
York, his vessel having been badly damaged in 
a storm. He was permitted to sell a part of his 
cargo to meet the cost of refitting. As he was 
about to resume his voyage in September, he was 
compelled to invoke the protection of the provin- 
cial authorities, one Miller, a piratical privateers- 
man, having announced his intention of making 



244 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

a prize of the ship as soon as she was outside of 
Sandy Hook. 

The French West India Company's ship 
" Victory," ChevaHer de Rossell, commander, 
was captured outside of Havana in the early 
summer by H.M.S. " Diamond " and taken to 
New York. Among her passengers was Father 
Andre Saens de Bitare, a Spanish priest. Cap- 
tain Jacobs, commander of the " Diamond," 
robbed the priest of a large sum of money and 
put him ashore. Governor Hunter granted him 
a pass to proceed to England, and he engaged 
passage on the snow " Amazon," bound for Lon- 
don. He took a boat at the dock to proceed to 
the vessel, but was stopped by a boat from the 
" Diamond " and again robbed and kept a pris- 
oner by Jacobs. Luckily for Father Saens de 
Bitare, there was a Dominican chaplain. Father 
Thomas Grents, on the captured " Victory," and 
he, learning of Father Saens de Bitare's misfor- 
tunes, promptly petitioned the council for his re- 
lease from the thievish clutches of Jacobs. The 
council directed Colonel Peter Schuyler, who, as 
president, had succeeded the upright Governor 
Hunter, to request Jacobs to permit the priest to 
resume his voyage. 

The presence of two priests in the port, al- 
though brought there by the fortunes of war, 
made the doughty Albany Colonel and his coun- 
cilors uneasy, and to provide for eventualities the 
following blank indictment was prepared the 
very day Schuyler succeeded Hunter. 
" New York S.S. 

" To the jurors for our Sovereign Lord the 
King and the of the Province and county 



IN OLD NEW YORK 245 

of New York and upon their oath Do present 
that Whereas in an act of the General Assembly 
holden in the eleventh year of the reign of Will- 
iam the Third late King of England, Scotland, 
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith etc., 
among other things it has enacted, that all and 
every Jesuit seminary priest, missionary or other 
spiritual and ecclesiastical person, made or or- 
dained by authority, power or jurisdiction and 
derived, challenged or pretended from the Pope 
or See of Rome, or that shall profess himself or 
otherwise appear to be such by practising and 
teaching of others to say any papist prayers, by 
celebrating mass, granting absolutions or us- 
ing any other of the Komish ceremonies and rites 
of worship by any name, title or degree soever, 
such person should be called or known, or who 
continued to teach and remain or come into this 
province or any part thereof after the first day 
of November next after the making of the said 
act, should be deemed and accounted an incendi- 
ary and disturber of the public peace and safety 
and an enemy to the true christian religion and 
should be adjudged to suffer perpetual impris- 
onment as in the act of the General Assembly 
aforesaid it is contained. 

" Nevertheless one Being an ecclesi- 
astical person made by authority pretended from 
the See of Rome after the said first day of 
November in the act aforesaid mentioned, to wit, 

the day of in the 

year of the reign of our Lord the King that now 
is, Did come into the city and county of New 
York, in the colony of New York aforesaid and 
there remain and abide during the time and space 



246 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of months after the date last aforesaid 

and during the time aforesaid. To wit on the 

day of in the said 

year of the reign of our Lord the King and 
divers other days and months as well before as 

after within the time and space of 

months aforesaid, at the City of New York 
aforesaid he the said did profess him- 
self to be an ecclesiastical person made and or- 
dained by authority derived from the See of 
Rome. And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath 

aforesaid do further say that the said 

after said day of in the 

year of the reign of our Lord the 

King that now is, at the city of New York afore- 
said within the colony of New York aforesaid, to 

wit the day of last past and 

sundry times before and afterwards. Did appear 
to be an ecclesiastical person made by authority 
pretended from the See of Rome by celebrating 
the mass and granting the absolution in con- 
tempt of our Lord the King that now is, and 
against the form of the act of Assembly afore- 
said." 

Father Thomas Harvey, S.J., who may truly 
be called the pioneer priest of the Church in New 
York, as he was the first priest known to have 
been stationed on Manhattan Island, died this 
year, in Maryland, aged 84 years. 

William Burnet, a son of the Bishop of Salis- 
bury and one of King James' bitterest enemies, 
came to New York as Governor in 1720. In its 
address of welcome the legislature addressed him 
as " the son of that worthy prelate so instru- 
mental, under our glorious monarch William III, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 247 

in delivering us from arbitrary power and its 
concomitants, Popery, superstition and slavery." 

The hearts of Governor Burnet and his like 
were made glad, in July, 1721, by the arrival in 
New York of one who had escaped from " Pop- 
ery, superstition and slavery." John Durant 
waited on the Governor and explained that he 
was a former Recollect priest and had been chap- 
lain of the French fort at Cataracouy. Durant 
claimed to be of Huguenot stock, and was 
desirous of changing his religion. He had a 
memorial giving full particulars of the move- 
ments of his countrymen at Niagara, and he was 
anxious to submit the information to the govern- 
ment at London — for a consideration. He evi- 
dently carried credentials from Burnet to the 
Lords of Trade, because that body wrote to the 
Governor the following year: "We have done 
what we cou'd for his (Durant's) Service tho' 
not with so much success as we cou'd wish." It 
is to be regretted that the Lords were not more 
explicit in setting forth the reasons for their lack 
of " success " with Durant. It would probably 
have revealed the cause of his apostasy. 

The Lords of Trade made bitter complaint to 
King George at this time, that the Spaniards of 
St. Augustine " give shelter to all our runaway 
slaves." As 1,573 slaves had been carried into 
New York from the West Indies between the 
years 1701 and 1726, it is probable that a num- 
ber of these found their way back to the Spanish 
possessions. 

The city was visited in 1726 by a son of the 
distinguished Canadian, the Chevalier Claude de 
Ramesay, Seigneur de Sorel and Governor of 



248 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Montreal, and the following year Governor John 
Bouillet, Sieur de la Chassaigne, with four asso- 
ciates, arrived in the city with a letter from Gov- 
ernor General Beauharnois to the Governor of 
New York, protesting against British aggression 
at Oswego. Boillet served with distinction at 
Chambly, was commandant at La Chine and on 
de Ramesay's expedition. He was a son-in-law 
of the veteran Charles le Moyne, was Governor 
of Trois Rivieres at the time of his visit to New 
York, and was Governor of Montreal when he 
died. A son of Francois Hertel, another famous 
soldier of New France, came to the city in 1731. 
In after years he was one of Montcalm's bravest 
subordinates, and one of the last to sheath his 
sword in the final struggle between France and 
England. 

President Rip Van Dam, who was Acting 
Governor in 1731, with his councilors, had " a 
bad quarter of an hour " over an incident that 
for the time looked as if " Popery " was not quite 
extinct. Thomas Pullen had, for some time, dis- 
charged acceptably the office of sheriff of 
Orange County. In October, the following affi- 
davit against Sheriff Pullen was handed to the 
Acting Governor : 

"The 8th day of October a.d. 1731 Their 
apered before me Joseph Blinfield one of his 
majesty's justices of the peace for the county of 
Oreng, John Allison of full age and did declare 
upon his sollem affarmation that some time ago 
he was at the house of Thomas PuUings and did 
hear Thomas Pullings say that the pop of Rom 
was a good cristian and that the papist Religion 
was a good cristian Religion and swair he would 



IN OLD NEW YORK 249 

stand by it this deponant asked the said PuUing 
if he was not ashamed to talk at that rate since 
he was sworn to the contrary and how he would 
ancer his oat But the said Pulling Replyed and 
sayed it was a good cristian Religion and he 
would stand by it, and furder his deponant saith 
not. John Allison. 

" taken before me 
" Joseph Blauvelt." 

If the object of John Allison's affidavit was to 
produce a vacancy in the office of sheriff of 
Orange County, it failed, because Thomas 
Pullen, as the records show, was the incumbent 
for some years afterwards. 

Even in this dark and bitter time for Catholics 
there were a few lowly ones who, despite perse- 
cution and contempt, made public profession of 
their faith. The New York Gazette contained 
the following advertisement: "Ran away the 
18th of August 1733, from Jacobus Van Cort- 
landt of the City of New York, a negro man 
slave, named Andrew Saxton — the shirts he had 
with him and on his back are marked with a cross 
on the left breast. He professeth himself to be 
a Roman Catholic, speaks very good English." 

John Leary, the livery-stable keeper and im- 
porter of horses, on Cortlandt Street, traveled to 
Philadelphia every year to perform his Easter 
duty, and avowed his faith so openly that the 
whole town knew of it. Their derisive remark, 
" John Leary goes to Philadelphia once a year to 
get absolution " troubled him not. 



250 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER XIII 

IN WHICH A CASE OF BURGLARY IS TRANSFORMED 
INTO A " POPISH " PLOT 

George Clark was Lieutenant-Governor of 
the province in 1740. He was a man of little 
education, grasping, crafty and active, who, dur- 
ing his administration and for a long time subse- 
quently, turned every occasion, cunning politician 
as he was, to his own pecuniary profit. The city's 
population had increased to nearly twelve thou- 
sand, about two thousand of whom were negro 
slaves. As regards public sentiment at this time, 
the preface to the second edition of Horsman- 
den's " New York Conspiracy " says: " A holy 
hatred of the Roman Catholics was inculcated by 
Church and State." 

On the night of Saturday, February 28th, 
1741, the house of Robert Hogg, the proprietor 
of a general store on Broad Street, corner of 
Jew's Alley (now South WilHam Street), was 
broken into and robbed of money and goods. In 
addition to keeping the store Hogg and his wife 
had two well-to-do boarders and their two white 
servants. In casting about for some one to sus- 
pect, the Hoggs recalled that the servants of 
their boarders had a constant visitor, one Chris- 
topher Wilson, alias Yorkshire, a lad belonging 
to H.M.S. " Flamborough," stationed at the port. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 251 

Wilson was familiar with the Hoggs' premises, 
and a little investigation revealed that he was on 
very friendly terms with some slaves of dubious 
reputation: Caesar, belonging to John Varck, a 
baker; Prince, to John Auboyneau, merchant, 
and CufFee, to Adolph Philipse. Mrs. Hogg re- 
called that some days before the robbery Wilson 
and some sailors from the " Flamborough " had 
come to the store to make purchases, and she had 
opened a till in which were a number of gold 
coins. It came out that Wilson had told his 
negro cronies of the booty to be had in Hogg's 
store, and that they in turn had consulted John 
Hughson, the keeper of a low negro resort and 
" fence," or depot for the reception of stolen 
goods, on Greenwich Street, near Thames 
Street. Margaret Sorubiero, alias Salinburgh, 
alias Peggy Kerry, a dissolute white woman, was 
an inmate of Hughson's house and a receiver of 
stolen goods. She also frequented the resort of 
John Romme, a cobbler and ale-house keeper 
near the new battery. The day after the rob- 
bery Wilson called on his friends in Hogg's 
house and, being questioned by Mrs. Hogg, told 
her that while he was in Hughson's place that 
morning John Gwin had pulled from his pocket 
a worsted cap full of silver coin, and had shared 
it with Philipse's negro, CufFee. 

That afternoon Wilson informed the author- 
ities that John Gwin was an alias of the negro 
Caesar, and Caesar was arrested, identified by 
Wilson as John Gwin, and committed to the jail 
in the City Hall for trial. Caesar was examined 
by the magistrates next day, but denied all knowl- 
edge of the robbery, and was remanded. Prince, 



252 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

arrested on suspicion for complicity, was also 
committed. Hughson and his wife Sarah 
were summoned to court, but denied all knowl- 
edge of the stolen goods and were discharged. 
High constable John Schultz and a posse made 
several searches of the Hughson's premises, 
but found nothing incriminating. Among the 
inmates of Hughson's house was an inden- 
tured servant, Mary Burton, the household 
drudge, a bold, glib-tongued, profane young 
woman, but for whose volubility and mendacity 
this chapter might not have disgraced the annals 
of New York. Mary, while on an errand to the 
house of Constable James Kannady, stopped to 
gossip with Mrs. Kannady, and the Hogg rob- 
bery having come up in the conversation, Mary 
told Mrs. Kannady that her husband was not 
cute enough to find the stolen goods in Hugh- 
son's, but that " he had trod on them." Mrs. Kan- 
nady and the constable hurried with the news to 
Under Sheriff Mills, and Mary was taken by him 
to Alderman Bancker's house, whence, after an 
examination by the alderman, she was sent for 
safe keeping to the City Hall, as she feared death 
at the hands of Hughson because of her revela- 
tions. 

Hughson was hurried before the alderman, 
confronted Avith the Burton girl's deposition, 
weakened and confessed that some of the pro- 
ceeds of the Hogg robbery were at his house. 
He was sent home under guard and, returning 
with the stolen goods, delivered them to the alder- 
man. Mary Burton, the next day, confronted 
Hughson in court, accused him of receiving the 
stolen goods, and he admitted it. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 253 

An alarm of fire from the fort at one o'clock 
in the afternoon of March 18th, brought the fire 
engine from the City Hall down town at a lively 
pace. The flames were licking up the cedar shin- 
gles on the roof of his Majesty's house, as the 
Governor's residence was called, and a stiff 
breeze from the bay bade fair to carry the flames 
to every structure within the fort's walls, if not 
beyond. The soldiers of the garrison and the 
militia, acting as fire companies, worked heroic- 
ally, but the dry woodwork in the ancient house 
was fine food for flames, and the building was 
destroyed. In a short time the church and the 
barracks followed, and the flames next consumed 
the secretary's office over the sally-port, from 
which a small army of volunteers had just re- 
newed the provincial records. The high wind 
had strewn many of these papers all over the 
street, but most of them were recovered. The 
fire was conquered as it was about to attack the 
Governor's stable. It had leaped the fort walls 
and damaged some of the near-by buildings. 
Several soldiers had been burned or injured, but 
no lives were lost. After the fire Van Home's 
company of militia was posted as guards and re- 
mained on duty during the night. An investi- 
gation satisfied the authorities that sparks from 
the charcoal furnace of Hilliard, a plumber, who 
had been repairing a gutter between the residence 
and the church, had caused the conflagration, 
and almost a month later Lieutenant-Governor 
Clarke, in a message to the assembly, so as- 
cribed it. Subsequently self interest led him to 
adopt another view^ that would and did enrich 
him. One week later an alarm of fire brought 



254 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the engine down to Captain Warren's house near 
the long bridge. The fire was confined to the 
roof and did Httle damage. A spark from a 
smoker's pipe, it was said, kindled the lumber in 
Van Zant's old warehouse on April 1st, and three 
days later fires that did slight damage were re- 
ported from Quick's and Thomas's houses in the 
Fly. The next day some dead coals were found 
under a haystack near the coach house of Coun- 
cilor Joseph Murray, on Broadway, and it was 
whispered that incendiaries were abroad. The 
whole town was discussing the fires, and a woman 
sitting at an open window of a house on Broad- 
way heard one of a group of passing negroes say : 

" Fire, fire, scorch, scorch a little, a little damn 
it, by and by." 

Terrified, she hurried with the story to an al- 
derman, who, with bated breath, communicated 
it to his associates the following day. A chimney 
fire on the 6th, in the house of Sergeant Burns, 
of the garrison, opposite the fort garden, became 
a great mystery. About noon there was an alarm 
of fire from JMrs. Hilton's house, next door to 
the Fly market. Between Mrs. Hilton's house 
and Thomas's, from which an alarm of fire had 
come on the 14th, was Captain Sarly's. Some 
months previous to the fire in Mrs. Hilton's house 
a Spanish prize ship had been brought into port. 
Part of its crew claimed to be free Spanish sub- 
jects, but, notwithstanding, they were condemned 
to slavery by the Court of Admiralty. Captain 
Sarly had bought one of these unfortunates. 
After the Hilton house fire had been extin- 
guished, the mob that had gathered surged in 
front of Sarly's premises and shouted : 



7.V OLD NEW YORK 255 

" The Spanish negroes! The Spanish negroes! 
Take up the Spanish negroes ! " 

A magistrate signed an order and posses 
scoured the town, arrested Sarly's negro and all 
the others from the Spanish prize, and they were 
committed to jail for examination. Spain and 
England were at war, but, in addition, the people 
were conscious of having deeply wronged these 
Spaniards for years, consequently public sus- 
picion first pointed at them. It seems to be in- 
grained in human nature to suspect and hate 
those we have unjustly treated. 

That afternoon an alarm of fire from Phil- 
ipse's warehouse and an adjoining building drew 
the mob in force. A fireman, seeing a negro 
jump from a window of the house, shouted : 

" A negro ! A negro! " 

The crowd immediately changed the cry into: 

" Cuff Philipse ! Cuff Philipse ! The negroes 
■are rising! " 

The crowd proceeded to Philipse's house, 
dragged Cuff, Philipse's slave, therefrom and 
bore him on their shoulders to jail. The negroes 
who were assisting in extinguishing the fires were 
seized by the mob and hurried to jail. The negro 
who had excited the fears of the woman on 
Broadway, who overheard him talking of the 
fires, was identified as Quack, or Quaco, a slave 
belonging to John Walters. He was arrested, 
and at his examination declared, and was cor- 
roborated by his companions, that they were dis- 
cussing Admiral Vernon's recent capture of 
Porto Bello. On the night of this eventful day 
the fears of the people were further increased by 
the establishment of a military night watch that 



256 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was continued during this eventful summer. 
John Hughson and Sarah, his wife, were com- 
mitted to jail by Mayor John Cruger on the 8th, 
charged as accessories to divers felonies and mis- 
demeanors. 

At a session of the Common Council on the 
11th, Recorder Daniel Horsmanden spoke of the 
recent fires, " which had put the inhabitants into 
the utmost consternation." They were occa- 
sioned, he said, " by some villainous confederacy 
of latent enemies amongst us." The Common 
Council requested the Lieutenant-Governor to 
issue a proclamation offering a reward for the 
discover}^ of the incendiaries or their confeder- 
ates. Two days later the alderman and council- 
man of each ward, accompanied by constables, 
made a house-to-house search. At every alarm 
of fire the householders in the vicinity tumbled 
their belongings pell mell into the street. Nu- 
merous complaints of missing goods came to 
the authorities from these panic-stricken citizens, 
and as a result the house-to-house search was in- 
stituted. When it was finished no stolen goods 
and no suspicious persons had been found. Two 
of John Chamber's slaves, Robin and Cuba, his 
wife, had articles in their possession that, in the 
opinion of the aldermanic investigators, were un- 
becoming their position as slaves, and they were 
committed to jail. 

Lieutenant-Governor Clarke, with the advice 
of his INIajesty's council, issued a proclamation 
offering a reward of ,£100 to any white person 
who would give information leading to the con- 
viction of any one concerned in the recent fires, 
the informer to be pardoned if concerned therein ; 



IN OLD NEW YORK 257 

any slave informer to be freed, the master of 
such slave to receive £25 therefor, the slave <£20 
and a pardon, if concerned; and a free negro, 
mulatto or Indian £45 and a pardon, if impli- 
cated. 

From April 6th to 17th, the magistrates were 
busy examining witnesses, but could elicit no in- 
formation. Cuff, Philipse's negro, when exam- 
ined, proved by witnesses that he had labored to 
extinguish the fire in his master's warehouse. He 
was, notwithstanding, committed for trial. The 
ancient Staat Huys in Coenties Slip had been 
succeeded as a City Hall, in 1700, by a neat two- 
story and attic stone building on Wall Street, at 
the head of Broad Street. The first floor was en- 
tered by a flight of steps from Wall Street, which 
led to a great lobby or corridor more than half 
the building in width and extending through to 
the rear. On the west side of this lobby an apart- 
ment in front housed the city fire engine, and in 
the rear was located the city prison, its cell in the 
center of the space. On the east of the main 
lobby a short corridor led to the keeper's room in 
the rear, and opposite it the stairway to the floor 
above. The center of the second story was occu- 
pied by the Supreme Court room, the place made 
infamous by the proceedings about to begin. It 
was divided lengthwise by a railing which shut 
off the public, on the Wall Street side, from the 
space occupied by the bench, court officers and 
members of the bar. East of the court room was 
the jury room, and on the other side of the court 
room the Common Council chamber or Mayor's 
court. The debtors' prison was in the attic, or 
garret, a bare, unplastered apartment. 



258 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The Supreme Court of Judicature for the 
Province of New York opened its term in the 
court room in the City Hall April 21st. Impres- 
sive in their great wigs and scarlet gowns, Sec- 
ond Justice Frederick Philipse and Third 
Justice Daniel Horsmanden, " the New York 
Jeffre3''s," were on the bench. Justice Philipse, 
in charging the grand jury, spoke impressively 
of the recent mysterious fires in the city : 

" JNIy charge, gentlemen," he said in closing, 
" further, is to present all conspiracies, combina- 
tions and other offences, from treasons down to 
trespasses; and in your inquiries, the oath you 
and each of you have just now taken, will, I am 
persuaded, be your guide, and I pray God to 
direct and assist you in the discharge of your 
duty." 

The grand jury sent a constable for Mary 
Burton, but she sent up word that " she would 
not be sworn or give evidence." She was pro- 
duced, nevertheless, and the seventeen grand 
jurymen subjected her to something similar to 
what is known in the New York police depart- 
ment of to-day as the " third degree." She was 
threatened with all kinds of punishment in this 
world and the next if she did not divulge. It was 
a favorite formula of the day to urge a brow- 
beaten and harassed prisoner to save his or her 
life by " making a free and ingenuous confes- 
sion." No doubt the questions of the seventeen 
inquisitors furnished JNIary with a complete story 
of their surmises and suspicions concerning the 
supposed plot to burn the town and kill the in- 
habitants. She weakened at length under the 
ordeal and consented to be SAvorn and to testify. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 259 

She accused the Hiighsons of receiving the goods 
stolen from Hogg's house and said that she had 
heard Caesar, Prince and Cuff (Phihpse's slave) 
talk with Hughson and his wife of an intention 
to burn the fort and town and kill the people. 
She further swore to seeing seven or eight guns 
and some swords in Hughson's house. 

" That she never saw any white person in com- 
pany when they talked of burning the town but 
her master, her mistress and Peggy Kerry." 

These revelations caused a sensation in the 
grand- jury room, and were communicated at 
once to Arch Prosecutor Horsmanden. The wily 
Lieutenant-Governor saw in the fire at the fort, 
and these rumors of a conspiracy, an opportunity 
to add to his hoard, and wrote, on the 22nd, to the 
Lords of Trade: " My private loss is very great 
and more than I am able to bear without bending 
under it." The legal lights of the city held a 
conference on the 23rd with the justices, and it 
was decided not to proceed against the accused 
negroes in the summary way provided for negro 
slave cases in the law of October 29th, 1730, but 
to try them in the Supreme Court. For a day 
and evening the grand jury subjected Peggy 
Kerry to the ordeal that had broken Mary Bur- 
ton, promising her a pardon if she would turn 
State's evidence, but she positively denied any 
knowledge of the fires. 

When the residence in the fort was burned, 
many of the effects of the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor were stored in the house of Captain Vin- 
cent Pease. Some of these goods were stolen, 
and a servant of Pease's, Arthur Price, was 
arrested for the theft and committed to jail 



260 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

to await trial. Conviction meant death, and wlien 
Price was approached with an offer of clemency 
if he would ingratiate himself with his fellow 
prisoners, committed to jail on suspicion of com- 
plicity in the conspiracy, he accepted the in- 
famous position. 

John Hughson, Sarah his wife, and Peggy 
Kerry were tried and found guilty. May 6th, of 
feloniously receiving stolen goods, and were re- 
manded for sentence. Sarah Hughson, John's 
daughter, was arrested as a conspirator, and 
Jack, a slave of Joshua Slydall's, was committed 
on suspicion of having attempted to burn 
Murray's haystack. Arthur Price in the jail 
" pumped," as Horsmanden expresses it, Sarah 
Hughson, and on the information said to have 
been obtained from her, Robert Todd's slave, 
Dundee, was arrested. Peggy Kerry, examined 
again, implicated twelve negroes in a conspiracy 
concocted at John Romme's resort. Caesar and 
Prince were tried on the 8th, on a charge of rob- 
bery. No counsel was allowed them or any one 
tried during these troublous times. They were 
sentenced to be hanged, and Caesar's body to be 
hung in chains. Both Mary Burton and Peggy 
Kerry's confessions under examination were iden- 
tical in many particulars, but Mary swore that 
Hughson's place was the scene of the conspiracy, 
while Peggy swore the whole mischief was con- 
cocted at John Romme's. Romme, at the first 
hint of trouble, had absconded, and Elizabeth, 
his wife, under examination emphatically denied 
all knowledge of any conspiracy. 

A great crowd witnessed the execution of 
Caesar and Prince on the 11th. From a high 



IN OLD NEW YORK 261 

gibbet near the powder house, on an island in the 
Collect Pond, the body of Caesar hung in chains 
for many a day. As Caesar and Prince would 
not utter a word when importuned to confess at 
the scaffold, earnest efforts were made to extract 
a confession from Cuffee, Philipse's negro. The 
infamous Arthur Price was put in the cell with 
the negro and the under sheriff was directed to 
" give them a tankard of punch, now and then, in 
order to cheer up their spirits and make them 
more sociable." " This," in the words of Hors- 
manden, " produced the desired effects." Cuffee, 
under the influence of the punch, told Price that 
he was a member of the Geneva Club, an organi- 
zation of negroes thus named to commemorate 
the theft of a quantity of Geneva gin some time 
before. " But it came out," says Horsmanden, 
" upon the examination of these negroes, that 
they had before that time the impudence to as- 
sume the style and title of Free Masons, in imi- 
tation of a society here, which was looked upon as 
a gross affront to the provincial grand master 
and gentlemen of the fraternity at that time, and 
was very ill accepted ; however, from this time the 
negroes may be supposed to have declined their 
pretensions to this title; for we heard nothing 
more of them afterwards under that stile. But it 
is probable that most of this Geneva Club that 
were sworn (as Cuff said) were of the conspir- 
acy; and it is likely that by the swearing Cuff 
meant sworn of the conspiracy." Nothing could 
be less likely. Arthur Price's deposition makes it 
very plain that while he was talking to Cuffee of 
those sworn to the conspiracy to burn the town 
and kill the people, poor, ignorant, rum-befud- 



262 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

died Cuff ee's replies had reference to those who 
took the oath or obhgation of the Geneva Club, 
the successor to the interdicted spurious Masonic 
lodge. 

Mary Burton did some more swearing on the 
13th, which was a day of public fasting and 
humiliation because of the province's calamities. 
She implicated three more slaves, and, probably 
to ingratiate herself with the justices, testified to 
friendly relations between Hughson and John 
Romme. The following day Romme was ap- 
prehended in New Brunswick, N. J., and was 
brought to New York, where he later denied any 
knowledge of a conspiracy. The court, on the 
20th, recommended Peggy Kerry to the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor for pardon, provided " that it 
should not pass the seal till she should be thought 
amply to have merited it." Simply a bait to be 
dangled before her to produce further revela- 
tions. Sawney, or Sandy, a negro boy of 
Thomas Niblet's, brought down from Albany, 
where his master had sent him to be sold, to 
be examined as to his knowledge of the con- 
spiracy and promised a pardon if implicated, 
provided he would make " a free and ingenuous 
confession," glibly told his story, implicating a 
number of negroes, including several of the 
Spanish Americans. According to his testimony, 
the fort and city were to be burned, and the de- 
sign of the negroes was " to kill the gentlemen 
and take their wives." There were, he said, " two 
lodges," as Horsmanden records it, " of negroes, 
the ' Long Bridge Boys ' and the ' Fly Boys.' " 
Having satisfied themselves that they had suf- 
ficient evidence to secure a conviction, the author- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 263 

ities brought to trial Quack and Cuffee, who had 
been indicted for conspiracy to kill, murder and 
burn. The trial proceeded with eight jurymen. 
" The panel being mislaid, no more of the jurors 
could be recollected." After hearing the evi- 
dence and Attorney- General Smith's charge, the 
jury quickly found a verdict of guilty. Justice 
Horsmanden delivered a harangue fanatical, 
abusive and unjudicial, and the sentence was pro- 
nounced as follows: " That you and each of you 
be carried from hence to the place from whence 
you came and from thence to the place of execu- 
tion, where you and each of you shall be chained 
to a stake and burnt to death ; and the Lord have 
mercy upon your poor wretched souls." There 
was a revolting scene enacted next morning at 
the place of execution. The condemned, Quack 
and CufFee, surrounded by a mad, howling mob, 
were approached by Deputy Secretary Moore 
and John Roosevelt, Quack's owner, and the 
hope of a reprieve was hinted at if they con- 
fessed. Each of them was obliged to flatter his 
respective criminal that his fellow had begun 
(a confession), which stratagem prevailed." 
Both negroes, it was alleged, denounced Hugh- 
son as " the first contriver " of the whole plot and 
" promoter " of it. Quack, it was asserted, con- 
fessed that on the night of March 17th, he put a 
brand under the shingles of the house in the fort, 
andj returning next morning, found it still ig- 
nited, blew it and went away. When the confes- 
sions were finished. Deputy Secretary Moore 
asked the sheriff to delay the executions until 
the Lieutenant-Governor's pleasure in the mat- 
ter of a reprieve could be learned. Horsmanden's 



264 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

account of the proceedings at this point is not 
clear. It would appear that the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor favored a reprieve, but the crowd, becom- 
ing threatening, overawed the sheriff, and the un- 
fortunate negroes died in the flames. As a result 
of Quack's and Cuffee's confessions, another 
batch of accused slaves was committed to jail. 

In far-off Georgia, Governor James Ogle- 
thorpe wrote the following letter, the receipt of 
which in New York created a tremendous sensa- 
tion in official and other circles and in fear-de- 
ranged minds the robbery of Hogg's store devel- 
oped by stages into a " Popish " plot. 

" Frederic A, in Georgia, May 16th, 1741. 
" Sir: — A party of our Indians returned the 
eighth instant from war against the Spaniards; 
they had an engagement with a party of Spanish 
horse, just by Augustine, and brought one of 
them prisoner to me: he gives me an account of 
three Spanish sloops and a snow, privateers, who 
are sailed from Augustine to the northward for 
the provision vessels brought from the northward 
to the West Indies, hoping thereby to supply 
themselves with flour, of which they are in want. 
Besides this account which he gave to me, he 
mentioned many particulars in his examination 
before our magistrates. Some intelligence I had 
of a villainous design of a very extraordinary 
nature, if true, very important, viz. that the 
Spaniards had employed emissaries to burn all 
the magazines and considerable towns in the 
English North- America, thereby to prevent the 
subsisting of the great expedition and fleet in 
the West Indies : and that for this purpose, many 



IN OLD NEW YORK 265 

priests were employed, who pretended to be 
physicians, dancing-masters, and other such 
kinds of occupations ; and under that pretence to 
get admittance and confidence in famiHes. As 
I could not give credit to these advices, since the 
thing was too horrid for any prince to order, I 
asked him concerning them; but he would not 
own he knew anything about them. 

" I am, sir, your very humble servant 
" Superscribed James Oglethorpe. 

" To the honourable George Clarke, Esq., 
" Lieutenant-Governor of New York." 

On receipt of this letter there were few physi- 
cians, dancing masters or school teachers who 
were not put under observation. It was recalled 
that about a year before the mysterious fires 
Luke Barrington, a young man of twenty-five, 
had arrived in the city and had taken a position 
as teacher in a school in Ulster County. He pro- 
fessed to be the son of an Anglican minister, had 
left home after a quarrel with his father, and 
while traveling in Italy had become a Catholic. 
While in Ulster County, during a drinking bout 
a companion " drank King George's health, who 
(Barrington), taking the bason of liquor," had 
drunk the health of King Philip of Spain. 
Threatened with denunciation for his act, Bar- 
rington disappeared. It was recalled that, al- 
though a man of marked intellectual attainments, 
he preferred the company of Irish Catholic serv- 
ants in the neighborhood to some of the prom- 
inent people who sought his acquaintance. He 
was arrested and incarcerated in Kingston jail, 
but effected his escape. These and similar stories 



266 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

of mysterious " Papists " came from all parts of 
the province. 

Hughson sent for Horsmanden from the jail, 
June 1st, and the justice, sure that Hughson had 
decided to confess, hurried to his cell, but Hugh- 
son swore positively to his innocence. John 
Hughson, his wife, daughter and Peggy Kerry 
were arraigned for trial on the 2nd. They were 
allowed no counsel. Mary Burton gave her 
usual testimony. Eleanor Ryan testified that she 
and her husband had lodged for two months in 
Hughson's house during the time the negroes 
were alleged to have assembled there, but had 
seen no negroes there except Caesar and Cuffee. 
Peter Kirby said of Hughson, " That he knew 
no harm of him." Gerardus Comfort, a next- 
door neighbor of Hughson's, swore that he had 
seen nothing amiss at Hughson's and " had seen 
no harm there." After a short absence from the 
court-room the jury returned with a verdict of 
" guilty " against all the prisoners. 

The slaves Bastian, Francis, Albany and Cura- 
9ao Dick were tried on the 10th. Francis, a 
Spaniard, spoke little English, and was allowed 
an interpreter. All were convicted and sentenced 
to be burned at the stake. Bastian, having turned 
State's evidence, was respited. He denounced 
Hughson as the chief conspirator and said that 
the negroes were sworn on a Bible by Hughson 
to burn the town, kill the people and hold the 
place until the arrival of the French and Span- 
iards. 

Five Spanish negroes, " lately imported into 
this city as prize slaves," were brought to the bar 
on the 15th: Antonio (De Lancey's), Antonio 



IN OLD NEW YORK 267 

(Mesnard's) , Pablo, Juan and Augustine. They 
entered a plea that they had been unjustly treated 
in having" been sold as slaves, when they were 
free subjects of the King of Spain. On this 
ground their indictment was faulty. They fur- 
ther pleaded that as Mary Burton, the only white 
witness against them, did not understand Span- 
ish, and as they could not speak English, it was 
impossible for her to truthfully testify what con- 
versation, she alleged, had taken place between 
them at Hughson's. This strong defence, which 
indicated the great intellectual superiority of the 
Spaniards over the average negro slaves, evi- 
dently embarrassed the prosecution, as the trial 
was adjourned until the 17th. On that date a 
second indictment for counseling and advising 
the negro Quack to burn the fort, etc., was pre- 
sented against Antonio de St. Bendito, Antonio 
de la Cruz, Pablo Ventura Angel, Juan de la 
Silva and Augustine Guiterez, the five Spaniards 
having handed in their surnames to the Court. 
For the King appeared, to assist the Attorney 
General, Joseph Murray, James Alexander and 
John Chambers. No counsel was permitted the 
accused, although an interpreter was assigned 
them. Mary Burton, the only white witness, 
gave her usual testimony, naming only De Lan- 
cey's Antonio. Several of the negro informers 
were permitted to testify for the Crown. Rich- 
ard Nichols, Deputy Register of the Admiralty, 
swore that nineteen negroes and mulattoes were 
brought into port by Captain Lush, in a prize 
libelled in the Court of Admiralty, as Spanish 
slaves, and sold as such in May, 1740. Captain 
Lush testified that Juan de la Silva could speak 



268 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

English and De Lancey's Antonio just enough 
to be understood. Jack, one of the negro in- 
formers, testified that Pablo Ventura Angel, 
Becker's slave, had furnished the conspirators 
with clasp knives. Benson, a business partner of 
Becker's, testified that he had but three knives in 
his possession when he came to live in Becker's 
house, not many with which to arm a conspiracy. 
The greater number of these Spaniards were 
badly frostbitten or otherwise disabled by the ex- 
treme rigors of their first winter in a northern 
climate, and their owners, reputable members of 
the community, testified in the prisoners' behalf, 
in most of the cases, that their disabilities confined 
them to their master's houses during the period of 
the alleged plotting. Peter De Lancey, Abraham 
Peltreau, Dr. Dupuy, Gilbert Budd, Mrs. Mes- 
nard. Captain Jacob Sarly and others, amongst 
the most influential people of the city, testified to 
the general good character of the Spaniards. In 
charging the jury, the Court held that if the ac- 
cused had desired to enter the plea that they were 
free subjects of the King of Spain it should have 
been made in the proceedings before the Court 
of Admiralty, as if these strangers, ignorant of 
the processes of English law and of the lan- 
guage, could have understood the nature of the 
proceedings that condemned them to a life of 
bondage. The jury, after a half hour's delibera- 
tion, brought in a verdict of guilty. Juan de la 
Silva was condemned to be hanged, the others 
were transported to the Spanish West Indies. 

On the Feast of the Assumption, August 15th, 
Juan, neatly dressed in white, devoutly praying 
in Spanish, with his eyes fixed upon a crucifix, to 



IN OLD NEW YORK 269 

which his Hps were frequently pressed, was taken 
to the place of execution and hanged, solemnly 
protesting his innocence to the last. His col- 
lected behavior and sincere devotion made a deep 
impression even on the fanatics who were guilty 
of his judicial murder. 

Lieutenant-Governor Clarke issued a proc- 
lamation the 19th, relating to the " conspiracy 
which had been set on foot, abetted encouraged 
and carried on by several white people in con- 
junction with divers Spanish negroes brought 
hither from the West Indies, and a great num- 
ber of other negroes within this city and country, 
for the burning and destroying this whole city, 
and murdering the inhabitants thereof." 

Since the receipt of Oglethorpe's letter, the 
authorities had convinced themselves that the 
" hand of Popery was in it," and a close search 
was made in the city for " Popish emissaries." 
In May, 1740, a pale, ascetic-looking, spectacled 
little man, John Ury, had taken lodgings in 
Croker's " Fighting Cocks " tavern and had an- 
nounced himself as a schoolmaster willing and 
anxious to take pupils. He found a few, but 
subsequently entered into a partnership with 
Campbell, a schoolmaster, to conduct a school, 
Ury to teach Latin and Greek. Horsmanden's 
spies heard of him, and their chief thus records 
the circumstance : " Information having been 
given for some time past, that there had of late 
been Popish priests lurking about the town, dili- 
gent inquiry had been made for discovering 
them, but without effect; at length information 
was given, that one Ury or Jury, who had lately 
come into this city, and entered into partnership 



270 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

with Cam2:)bell, a school-master, pretending to 
teach Greek and Latin, was suspected to be one, 
and that he kept a private conventicle; he was 
taken into custody, this day, and not giving a 
satisfactory account of himself was committed to 
the City jail." 

Mary Burton, glib, obliging, imaginative 
Mary, made another affidavit on the 25th. She 
was told that John Ury had been arrested the 
day before, on suspicion of being a Roman Cath- 
olic priest, and was confronted with him. Did 
she know him? Had she ever seen him at Hugh- 
son's? Did she know him! Why, he used to 
come to Hughson's every night for a fortnight 
and sleep there sometimes. He called himself 
Ury and Jury and Doyle, and he went up with 
the Hughsons into the room where the negroes 
were plotting to burn the city and kill all the 
white people, " though she cannot say she ever 
heard him speak out, but said she esteemed his 
actions and behavior to signify his approbation 
and consent to what was carrying on by the com- 
pany touching this conspiracy." 

What a keen analyst of motives, and graphic 
describer of them, was Mary, the indentured 
drudge of the keeper of a negro dive, who, two 
months before, solemnly swore " that she never 
saw any white person in company when they had 
talked of burning the town but her master, her 
mistress and Peggy Kerry." Of all the negroes 
who had been searchingly examined by the keen- 
est legal lights of the city, or who had confessed 
during the past two months, who had graphically 
and minutely described every person and thing 
about Hughson's place and its frequenters and 



W OLD NEW YORK 271 

their words and acts, not one had mentioned Ury 
until he had been brought face to face with Mary 
Burton and she had been told all there was to tell 
concerning him, and presto! Hughson was de- 
posed as arch conspirator, and the mild, inoffen- 
sive little schoolmaster Ury took his place. 

The community had grown wearied of the 
" hellish negro plot." There had been, it is true, 
some fires of mysterious origin, but no white man, 
woman or child had been molested or injured by 
a negro. Save for one old gun, hidden near the 
fort, no concealed arms had been found, and the 
ten thousand whites were becoming incredulous 
concerning a plot involving about a hundred 
blacks armed with the clasp knives with which they 
cut their daily food. Bloody as were the effects 
of Mary Burton's confessions, the non-slave- 
owning people were beginning to smile incredu- 
lously over them, while the slave owners were dis- 
mayed and sore over the loss of so many of their 
human chattels, but — " the hand of Popery is in 
it," cried the crafty Clarke. " Popish priests 
lurking about the town," mysteriously whispered 
the bloodthirsty Horsmanden. These ominous 
utterances and Oglethorpe's " Popish " night- 
mare letter fired at once Protestant fears, indig- 
nation and zeal, and the sordid robbery of 
Hogg's general store, with its after develop- 
ments, was carefully nursed into a " Popish 
plot," of which even London might be envious. 

It was realized that it would not be safe to 
attempt to properly work up public opinion 
against Ury on Mary Burton's unsupported evi- 
dence, and there was no other free man available 
to swear against him, so Adam, a slave of Joseph 



272 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Murray's, of counsel for the Crown, who had 
aiinovuiced his willingness to confess, and " who 
had just now been shewn him (Ury) in prison," 
testified that Hughson had asked him " last new 
year was three years " to join the negroes in 
burning the town and killing the whites. He 
had attended a meeting at Hughson's " soon 
after new year holidays last," at which he had 
been sworn into the plot, but, before taking the 
oath, had suffered from scruples that had been 
allayed by Hughson telling him " that there was 
a man he knew that could forgive him all his sins ; 
whereupon he took the oath." He further con- 
fessed that he had seen the little short man, just 
shown him in prison, at Hughson's four or five 
times, who was, Hughson told him, one of the 
two priests who could forgive sins. During his 
calls at Hughson's he had seen Ury in a room 
with Hughson and the negroes four or five times, 
whispering and talking, but did not remember 
hearing any one talk about the plot when Ury 
was present. This was all very gratifying to 
the authorities, but poor Adam began to say too 
much, and related how Cuffee had told him that 
John Romme had promised to join the plot and 
" was very forward for it." Now, although this 
corroborated Peggy Kerry's recanted confession 
and made out Romme as " forward " for the 
plot, as was Hughson, it was evidently not agree- 
able to the authorities to have witnesses connect 
Romme with it, for on the evidence, such as it 
was, Romme was as plainly a receiver of stolen 
goods and a conspirator as Hughson, yet, owing 
to some mysterious but powerful influence, 
Romme was discharged on furnishing security to 



IN OLD NEW YORK 273 

leave the province, while Hughson was gibbeted. 
Adam, however, redeemed himself and did honor 
to that learned man-of-law Murray, his master, 
by swearing that he had seen two white men, 
Holt, the dancing master, and a Doctor Hamil- 
ton, sworn by Hughson into the plot, and he had 
seen four or five white men at Hughson's. 

" That Holt's Joe (a slave) told him (Adam) 
not once but an hundred and an hundred times 
that he, Adam, need not be afraid, for that his 
(Joe's) master was concerned in the plot; and 
that he had spoke to Hughson for the biggest 
room he had there, to hold a free mason's lodge." 
" Holt, it seems," says Horsmanden, " was a free 
mason." The names of Holt, his slave Joe and 
Doctor Hamilton are not in the list of those taken 
into custody because of complicity in the so-called 
conspiracy. 

Twenty other negroes " confessed " on the 
27th, and not one of them mentioned having seen 
Ury at Hughson's. There was one man holding 
an office in New York city who seems to have re- 
tained some sanity and conscience in these dark 
days. High Constable John Schultz appeared 
before the court July 1st, and made an affidavit 
that let in a flood of light on the manner in which 
the miserable, ignorant, deluded negroes were 
lured, deceived and cajoled into assisting in con- 
structing an imaginary plot and rushing to their 
own destruction. Schultz, in his affidavit, swore 
that, at the justice's orders, he had taken the writ- 
ten confession of Pierre Depuyster's slave Pedro, 
in which Pedro had sworn that he and Van 
Horn's Kid, Dr. Henderson's Caesar and sev- 
eral other slaves had taken an oath at Hughson's 



274 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

to burn the town and kill the whites. Schultz 
swore that on June 30th, and subsequently, in 
the presence of white witnesses, Pedro had de- 
clared that his confession was utterly false and 
had been prompted by his fellow prisoner, Will, 
a slave, who assured him that unless he manu- 
factured a confession and dragged in two or 
three others he would be hanged or burned. Will 
had further suggested the names of the proper 
negroes for Pedro to denounce. Pedro offered 
to produce four witnesses to prove Will's com- 
plicity. In another affidavit Schultz testified 
that Breasted's slave Jack had, after a searching 
examination, admitted that he had falsely impli- 
cated Hereford, a young slave of Samuel M. 
Cohen's. 

The jail was overcrowded with negroes, and 
to thin it out the court recommended the names 
of forty-two of them to the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor for transportation. Anthony Ward's slave 
Will was burned at the stake July 4th, and made 
a confession implicating William Kane and Ed- 
ward Kelly, " soldiers belonging to the garrison, 
and reputed papists." Private William Kane 
was arrested and examined next day. He testi- 
fied that he was born in Athlone, Ireland. That 
he had no acquaintance with John Romme, had 
never met Ury or Jury or attended any of his 
congregations or meetings. Professed himself 
a member of the Church of England, and was 
never at any Roman Catholic service in his life. 
The only assemblage of negroes he had ever heard 
of was a dance at Private Edward Kelly's house. 
While Kane's examination was proceeding, an 
under sheriff told the justices that Mary Bur- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 275 

ton's memory had become further refreshed, and 
that she could swear she had often seen Kane at 
Hughson's. She was brought into court, con- 
fronted with Kane, and swore to his identity. 
Chief Justice De Lancey, who had been absent 
from the city since the negro plot trials began, 
was on the bench this day for the first time, and 
he seems to have had some misgivings concerning 
Mary and her stories. He solemnly admonished 
her concerning the nature of an o^th and the 
crime of perjury, but she persisted in her state- 
ment, and, being sworn, testified that Kane had 
often discussed the plot with the Hughsons, 
Peggy and the negroes, and had promised to 
help them " all that lay in his power." The Bur- 
ton woman having withdrawn, the justices sub- 
jected Kane to the " third degree," and he nearly 
fainted under the ordeal. He was told that he 
" must not flatter himself with the least hopes of 
mercy, but by making a candid and ingenuous 
confession of all that he knew of the matter." 
Realizing that all who made an ingenuous con- 
fession were leniently dealt with, and all who re- 
fused went to the scaffold or the stake, he " con- 
fessed," and before many days outshone Mary 
Burton as a confessor. He swore that he had 
gone with Jerry Corker, the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor's stableman, to John Coffin the peddler's 
house to attend a " Bomish " christening. That 
three persons acted as priests, one of whom was 
Ury. Coffin, Corker and Daniel Fagan had dis- 
cussed the matter of burning the town. He ad- 
mitted having attended two meetings at Hugh- 
son's, and had seen Corker, Fagan, Coffin, 
Hughson's father and three brothers there. Ury 



276 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

on one occasion had endeavored to " seduce him " 
to the " Romish " rehg-ion, " and there happened 
a squabble," after which Kane left, " or else he 
don't know but they would have seduced him, the 
priest and Coffin pressed him so." " Peter Con- 
nolly (a soldier), on the Governor's Island, has 
owned himself to have been bred a priest to him 
(Kane), and was often in company with Jury; 
Kelly (Private Edward Kelly) is a Roman; Con- 
nolly and he were intimate." He had seen Hugh- 
son swear eight negroes into the plot with the 
following impressive ceremony: A black ring 
was drawn on the floor about two and a half feet 
in diameter. Hughson bid every one pull off the 
left shoe and put his toes inside the ring. Mrs. 
Hughson held a bowl of punch over the heads of 
the initiates, and Hughson solemnly administered 
the oath to each, after which Mrs. Hughson 
treated them to a ladle of punch. Corker had 
told him that Hughson and he had designed to 
burn the English church on Christmas day dur- 
ing the service, but Ury had requested them to 
defer the burning until more favorable weather 
had dried the roof and filled the edifice with a 
larger congregation. The greatest spite of the 
conspirators, especially Ury, was against the 
English church. 

John Coffin, the peddler, was examined on the 
6th, and held for further examination. Sarah, a 
negress, was sentenced to be hanged because her 
testimony in certain of the cases was so different 
from her confessions " that the Court could give 
no further credit to her evidence." Sarah evi- 
dently gave more satisfaction to the Court sub- 
sequently, as she was not executed. Slow-witted, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 277 

miserable, tortured Sarah Hughson, who had 
been repeatedly sentenced to death and as often 
respited, concluded to make an " ingenuous con- 
fession " on the 8th, and implicated her father, 
mother and Ury. On her return to her cell she 
retracted every syllable of it and declared she 
knew nothing of any conspiracy. The Court de- 
termined to order her execution once more as a 
last " experiment " to force a confession. 

William Kane and Mary Burton were again 
examined. Kane denounced Private Edward 
Murphy, of the garrison, also David Johnson, 
white, a hatter of the city. Mary Burton cor- 
roborated Kane's testimony, and, not to be out- 
done, implicated Private William Kelly and 
seventeen soldiers of the garrison, Holt, a danc- 
ing master, John Earl and John Coffin. High 
Constable John Schultz appeared in court on the 
10th and deposed that C. Codwise's slave, Cam- 
bridge, had retracted his confession and denied 
all participation in and knowledge of any plot, 
and swore that he had been induced to manu- 
facture a confession because his fellow prisoners 
had told him it was the only way to escape hang- 
ing. 

Sarah Hughson was again examined on the 
10th, and swore she had seen John Ury often in 
her father's house, and that he was deep in the 
plot. Peggy Kerry was a Catholic, and Ury, 
she thought, had " made her father and mother 
papists." This was promising, and next morn- 
ing she was brought before the chief justice for 
further probing, but she denied emphatically 
every word she had uttered on the 8th and 10th. 
To make up for this disappointment, ]Mary Bur- 



278 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ton, on the 13th, implicated Corry, a dancing 
master, said to be a CathoKc, and a Scotch doctor 
whose name she did not know. 

John Ury, " apprehended upon suspicion of 
being a Romish priest and a confederate in the 
conspiracy," was examined on the 14th by the 
chief justice and Horsmanden. Ury declared 
that he was in no wise connected with the con- 
spiracy, and was never in any way acquainted 
with the Hughsons or Margaret Kerry, and to 
his knowledge never saw them in his life. Mary 
Burton on this day surpassed herself. She 
described a fight in Hughson's place between one 
Butchell and an old man named Alanor. Dili- 
gent search of the city failed to discover any one 
who had ever heard of Alanor. Mary must have 
deemed it incumbent on her to produce some new 
victim, and, having exhausted the list of every 
one she had ever heard of, proceeded to manu- 
facture names. William Kane, re-examined, had 
seen " a young gentleman with a pigtail wig " 
frequently in company with the conspirators, A 
feeling of uneasiness now began to pervade the 
white men of the city. The Burton woman and 
Kane were denouncing so many, and were rap- 
idly advancing in the social scale in their choice 
of victims for denunciation. 

John Ury, indicted on two counts for " coun- 
selling, aiding, abetting and procuring, etc.," a 
slave called Quack to set fire to the King's house 
in the fort and for " being an ecclesiastical per- 
son made by authority pretended from the See of 
Rome . . . and did appear so to be by celebrat- 
ing masses, and granting absolutions, &c.," 
pleaded not guilty to both indictments on the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 279 

15th. A diary or journal had been found among 
Ury's effects that showed he had arrived at Phil- 
adelphia February 17th, 1739, and had traveled 
through southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
teaching school for a time at various places, until 
his arrival in New York, November 2nd, 1740. 
Two entries read as follows: "Baptised Tim- 
othy Ryan, born 18th, April, 1740, son of John ^ 
Ryan and Mary Ryan, 18th May, 1741." There 
were efforts made to locate John Ryan, but no 
trace of any one of that Christian name could be 
found in the city. " Pater confessor Butler 2 
Anni non sacramentum non confessio." Who 
Father Confessor Butler was remains a mystery. 

Two more soldiers of the garrison, Thomas 
Evans and James O'Brien, were implicated on 
the 18th by Othello, a slave of Chief Justice De 
Lancey's. 

An error having been discovered in the indict- 
ment against Ury, he was arraigned again as an 
" ecclesiastical person, etc.," on the 22nd, and he 
renewed his former plea of not guilty. The sen- 
tencing and respiting of Sarah Hughson had so 
terrified and broken her down that when the 
chief justice took her in hand the following 
" confession " was produced. She had fre- 
quently, she swore, seen Ury at her father's house 
and had heard him talking to the negroes about 
the plot. Standing in the middle of a ring with 
a cross in his hand he had administered the con- 
spirator's oath to the blacks. He had baptized a 
number of the slaves, and assured them he would 
forgive all their sins. Some of the negroes told 
her they had gone to Ury's lodgings, " where 
they used to pray in private after the popish 



280 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

fashion, and that he used to forgive them their 
sins for burning the town and destroying the 
town and cutting of the people's throats." 
Peggy Kerry, she declared, was a strong " Pap- 
ist," and used to confess in private to Ury. This 
was all very satisfactory, but the prosecution was 
determined to weave a halter for John Ury that 
could not possibly be broken during the trial, and 
there seems to have been a preliminary examina- 
tion before the trial of every one who had any 
knowledge of Ury. Elias Debrosse, a confec- 
tioner, was examined the 24th by one of the jus- 
tices, and his story was that in the previous April 
Ury, in company with Joseph Webb, a carpen- 
ter, came to his (Debrosse's) place of business 
and asked if he could sell him any sugar bits or 
wafers, and if the Lutheran minister bought his 
wafers of him. Debrosse had no wafers, and ad- 
vised Ury to have a joiner make a mold for him. 
To an inquiry of Debrosse's as to where his con- 
gregation worshipped, Ury did not reply. 

Joseph Webb, the carpenter who accompanied 
Ury to Debrosse's, was before one of the jus- 
tices for examination on the 27th. He testified 
that he had known Ury for about ten months, 
having met him at John Croker's " Fighting 
Cocks " tavern, where Ury lodged. Learning 
that Ury was a schoolmaster, lately come from 
Philadelphia, Webb sent his child to him as a 
pupil. Becoming more intimate, Webb invited 
Ury to his house and board, and during Ury's 
stay they had frequently discussed ecclesiastical 
subjects. Ury had told him that he was a non- 
juring minister and had been arrested in London 
for publishing a book that had been denounced 



IN OLD NEW YORK 281 

as treasonable. Through the good offices of a 
powerful friend he got away from England, but 
had forfeited thereby a church preferment of 
<£50 annual income. 

" Ury," said Webb, " in some of his conversa- 
tions upon religious topics expressed himself in 
such a dark, obscure and mysterious way that he 
could not understand him, and would give hints 
that he could not make neither head nor tail of." 
There is much about Ury, and the testimony con- 
cerning him, to indicate that his mind was de- 
ranged on the subject of religion. In May, to 
continue Webb's story, Ury had joined Camp- 
bell, a schoolmaster, in conducting a private 
school, and both had removed to the house for- 
merly occupied by John Hughson. One day the 
negro was the subject of conversation between 
Ury and Webb, and Webb had remarked that 
the negroes had souls to be saved or lost the same 
as other people. 

" They are not proper subjects of salvation," 
replied Ury. 

" What would you do with them, then, would 
you damn them all? " asked Webb. 

" No," said Ury, " leave them to that Great 
Being that has made them. They are of a slav- 
ish nature ; it is of the nature of them to be slaves. 
Give them learning, do all the good you can, put 
them above the condition of slaves, and in return 
they will cut your throats." 

John Ury's trial began July 29th, before the 
chief justice, Justice Philipse and Justice Hors- 
manden. Associates with Attorney - General 
Bradley in the prosecution were Messrs. Murray, 
Alexander, Smith and Chambers. Poor John 



282 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Ury was allowed no legal adviser in his fight for 
life. The indictment charged him with abetting 
the negro slave Quack in setting fire to the King's 
house. In opening the indictment the attorney- 
general appealed to the bigoted fanaticism of 
the jury with the following tirade against the 
Catholic Faith: "... These and many other 
juggling tricks they have in their hocus pocus, 
bloody religion, which have been stripped of all 
their wretched disguises and fully exposed in 
their own wretched colours by many eminent 
divines, but more particularly by the great Dr. 
Tillotson, whose extraordinary endowments of 
mind, his inimitable works and exemplary piety 
and charity have gained him such universal es- 
teem and applause throughout all the Protestant 
world as no doubt will endure as long as the Prot- 
estant name and religion lasts, which I hope will 
be to the end of time." 

The star witness, Mary Burton, was put on the 
stand. Mary told her usual story and introduced 
a novelty. She had been spying under the door 
of a room in Hughson's house in which Ury, the 
Hughsons and Peggy Kerry were in conference 
with the negroes and had seen " a black ring on 
the floor, and things in it that seemed to look like 
rats, I don't know what they were." Horsman- 
den learnedly conjectures that they were " the 
negroes, perhaps, pulling their black toes back- 
wards and forwards." 

Mary Burton was followed by Private Will- 
iam Kane, who testified to Ury's complicity in 
the plot and his own arduous trials and tribula- 
tions in escaping Ury's machinations to subject 
him to " Romish " baptism. Sarah Hughson re- 



IN OLD NEW^ YORK 283 

peated the testimony given at her last examina- 
tion, and received as her reward " his Majesty's 
most gracious pardon." As a finishing touch for 
the prosecution, Governor James Oglethorpe's 
letter was read to the jury. With this the prose- 
cution rested, and the slight, pale, spectacled 
little man, looking pitiably forlorn and deserted, 
arose and faced the three stern- faced, bewigged 
justices and the array of legal talent opposing 
him. In opening he told of Webb coming to 
him more than a week before his arrest with the 
information given him by Mr. Chambers, of 
Counsel for the Crown, that " the eyes of this city 
were fixed on me, and that I was suspected to be 
a Romish priest and thought to be in the plot," 
but, certain that his innocence would protect him, 
he had made no attempt to leave the city. " As 
there is a great, unknown and tremendous being 
whom we call God, I never knew or saw Hugh- 
son, his wife, or the creature that was hanged 
with them, to my knowledge, living, dying, or 
dead, or the negro that is said to have fired the 
fort, excepting in his last moments." He was 
interrupted by the Court and told to examine his 
witnesses if he had any and make his defence 
afterwards. 

John Croker, the landlord of the " Fighting 
Cocks," the first witness called for the defence, 
testified that Ury had lodged in his house from 
November, 1741, until he and Campbell had hired 
the house in which Hughson had formerly lived. 
While lodging in his house, Ury reached home 
nightly as early as eight o'clock, and only once 
or twice after twelve. He had heard Ury preach 
on one occasion, and before the sermon Ury had 



284 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

prayed for King George and the royal family. 

Webb, the next witness, repeated the testi- 
mony given at his preliminary examination, and 
added that he had constructed something for Ury 
" which I have since heard called an altar." It 
consisted of two pieces of board which formed a 
triangle, and was raised against the wall, at the 
bottom of which was a shelf; on each side was a 
place to hold a candle. Ury's partner, John 
Campbell, swore that when he and Ury went to 
take possession of Hughson's house, Ury mis- 
took Gerardus Comfort's house for Hughson's. 
He considered Ury " a grave, sober, honest 
man." 

Campbell's wife followed him on the stand and 
related that she, her husband and Ury went on 
May day to take possession of the house for- 
merly occupied by Hughson and hired by her 
husband. They had found Hughson's daughter 
Sarah on the premises, and the witness told her 
she must vacate, as her husband had hired it, 
whereupon Sarah Hughson cursed and swore at 
her. 

" How dare you talk so impertinently and 
saucily to an old woman, you impudent hussy! 
Go out of the house or I will turn you out," Ury 
had said. 

Sarah " swore miserably " at him, and added: 
" You have a house now, but shall not have one 
long." 

At the close of Mrs. Campbell's testimony the 
Attorney- General announced that, as the prisoner 
had been endeavoring to prove that he was not a 
" Romish priest, and has already insisted on it as 
part of his defence, I shall beg leave to examine 



IN OLD NEW YORK 285 

a witness or two to that point." Joseph Hildreth, 
a rival schoolmaster to Campbell and Ury, was 
sworn and testified to various conversations with 
Ury which to the unprejudiced mind would carry 
conviction that Ury was anything but a Catholic 
priest. One of their talks Hildreth repeated, as 
follows: " Says he (Ury), your Romish priests 
will make you believe that black is white, and 
white black, and that wafer and wine is the real 
body of Christ." Strange talk from a Catholic 
priest ! 

" I seeing the altar placed in a corner," testi- 
fied Hildreth, concerning a visit to Ury's room, 
" I asked him what use that was for? First he 
said only to lay books on, or for a candle to sit 
and read by ; but I told him I could not think it, 
for I supposed it for the sacrament by its form 
and odd colour. I begged him to let me know 
what it was, so after some time he seriously told 
me it was for the sacrament. And he told me, I 
think, every saint's day it was exposed, only cov- 
ered with a piece of white linen, and that he ad- 
ministered on some proper days. And he told 
me they received the wafer instead of bread, and 
white instead of red wine. I asked him why the 
wafer? Because, says he, the wafer is more pure; 
and no bread he thought pure enough to repre- 
sent the body of our Lord. ..." Hildreth fur- 
ther testified that Ury kept a private meeting 
and made use of " the Church form of prayer " 
every Sunday evening in his room in John 
Campbell's house. 

Richard Norwood testified that Ury taught his 
children to read and write. Ury's conversation 
led the witness to suspect that he was a " popish " 



286 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

priest. Norwood was curious as to where Ury 
went evenings, and had intended " to have dogged 
him " to find out. One day, meeting Campbell, 
the schoolmaster, speaking of Ury, said: 

" D n him, he is a popish priest." 

With this the evidence closed, Mr. Smith, 
armed with several ecclesiastical looking tomes, 
proceeding to prove that the ceremonies used by 
Ury were so similar to the usages of the Catholic 
Church as to convince everybody that he was a 
priest of the Roman Church. He read from 
Peter de Moulin's " Anatomic de la Messe," in 
reference to the use of salt, and from Montalte 
on absolution. Poor Ury's defence was that 
there had been no evidence presented to prove 
that he was a priest of the " Church of Rome." 
Smith's speech to the jury, which followed, was 
a vile tirade against the Catholic Church and 
grossly insulting to the accused. At its close the 
Chief Justice charged the jury, and that body, 
after an absence of fifteen minutes, returned with 
a verdict of guilty. Ury was placed at the bar 
for sentence August 4th, and, when asked why 
sentence of death should not be pronounced 
against him, " had nothing to offer," but asked 
for time in which to arrange his private affairs. 
The Chief Justice, " after taking notice of the 
heinousness of the offence of which he was con- 
victed, the dangerous and pernicious tendency of 
the doctrines of the Church of Rome, which em- 
boldened her disciples to embark in the most haz- 
ardous, wicked and inhumane enterprises, which 
he illustrated from several passages cited from 
the works of the late Archbishop Tillotson," sen- 
tenced Ury to be hanged on August 15th. One 



IN OLD NEW YORK 287 

of the Spaniards, Juan de Sylva, was sentenced 
to be hanged on the same day. Uiy was res- 
pited. Day after day the bloodthirsty rabble 
had collected at the place of execution to abuse 
and jibe at the rum-deadened blacks sent into 
eternity, or to roar with ferocious laughter at the 
strange antics of the fear-crazed victims. The 
same crowd had assembled on August 15th, but 
it looked not upon the shocking details that at- 
tended the end of the black heathen, but on the 
peaceful, collected passing away of a Catholic 
Christian. Even the hardened Horsmanden was 
forced to declare that Juan " behaved decently." 
John Ury was hanged August 29th. Joseph 
Webb, the carpenter, who testified in his defence, 
was his faithful friend to the last, accompanying 
him to the scaffold. He handed Webb a copy 
of his last speech. Horsmanden prints in his 
book a speech which he says was a copy of the 
manuscript written by Ury, but admits that it dif- 
fers from one " supposed to have been printed in 
Philadelphia," and adds that the speech printed 
in Philadelphia " perhaps might have been altered 
and corrected by some of his associates." In the 
speech, as given by Horsmanden, Ury solemnly 
protests his innocence and, referring to the Sacra- 
ment of Penance, says: "I firmly believe and 
attest that it is not in the power of man to for- 
give sin; that it is the prerogative only of the 
great God to dispense pardon for sin; and that 
those who dare pretend to such a power, do in 
degree commit that great unpardonable sin, the 
sin against the Holy Spirit, because they pre- 
tend to that power, which their own consciences 
proclaim to be a lie." 



288 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

" The law passed against the Catholic priests," 
says John Gilmary Shea, " was once only en- 
forced, and then to bring to death a Protestant 
clergyman." 

With the execution of Ury, the negro plot hal- 
lucination seems to have died. John Corry, the 
dancing master, and the soldiers, Andrew Ryan, 
Edward Kelly, Edward Murphy, Peter Conolly, 
John Coffin, the peddler, and David Johnson, the 
hatter, were discharged from custody August 
31st, no one appearing to prosecute, and on Oc- 
tober 21st the relatives of John Hughson were 
pardoned, on condition of their leaving the prov- 
ince. During the continuance of this public 
mania, in addition to the whites who had suf- 
fered, eleven negroes had been burned at the 
stake, eighteen hanged and fifty transported. 
The book written by Horsmanden, the originator 
of the plot, " whose conscience smote him," says 
Shea, " is a monument of their (the authorities) 
senseless credulity, disregard of law and reason, 
and greedy bigotry," but it proved a lucrative 
venture. The plot was also a " lucrative ven- 
ture " to Clarke, the Governor. This man, whose 
losses, he claimed, by reason of the fire in the fort, 
were " very great and more than I am able to 
bear without bending under it," took with him 
from the province, according to the historian 
Smith, the sum of £100,000. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 289 



CHAPTER XIV 

IN WHICH MANY FRENCH AND SPANISH PRISON- 
' ERS OF WAR AND REFUGEES COME TO THE CITY, 
INCLUDING AN APOSTATE RECOLLECT 

The relations between England and France 
were strained to the breaking point in 1743, and 
every Frenchman in New York city not known 
to be a Huguenot possessed of letters of deniza- 
tion, was carefully watched to ascertain if he was 
a spy. There was a big Moravian settlement 
in Dutchess County, and there were grave fears 
in the council that the disaffected among the 
Moravians were furnishing information to the 
French. These suspicions included the Moravian 
ministers, and the sheriff of Dutchess County 
was directed to investigate and to order the 
clergymen to New York city for examination by 
the council. 

Every visitor to the city whose garb or tongue 
suggested anything French or Canadian was re- 
ported to the authorities, and when, in June, 
1744, a strange Frenchman, accompanied by a 
woman, arrived and took up lodgings, Governoi: 
Admiral George Clinton was informed, and he 
confined them to their apartment and placed two 
sentinels at the door to make sure that they did 
not escape. The man gave the name of Michael 
Houdin and said the woman was his wife. Noth- 



290 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ing further was learned concerning them until a 
letter from Lieutenant Lindesay, in command of 
the fort at Oswego, was read at the council meet- 
ing, July 5th, 1744, in which he told that Houdin 
and his companion had passed that way from 
Canada and had informed him that a body of 
eight hundred Frenchmen would attack the fort 
as soon as the provision fleet arrived from 
France. Houdin and the woman were examined 
by the council, and for their safer keeping were 
ordered to take up their abode in Jamaica, Long 
Island. Houdin had little means, was generally 
regarded as a French spy, and avoided by the 
people of the place. 

In August he wrote to Governor Clinton, 
representing his circumstances as very precarious 
and bewailing his inability to do anything in 
Jamaica to earn a living, and that consequently 
he and his wife would soon be reduced to want. 
He and the woman were permitted to come to the 
city, and the oath of allegiance was administered 
to him. 

The sheriff of Dutchess had found Estien la 
Roche, a French deserter, among the Moravians, 
and, February 12th, 1745, sent him to New York 
for examination. La Roche met Houdin in New 
York, and at once recognized and identified him 
as Father Potencien, one time Superior of the 
Recollects at Trois Rivieres. It would be very 
dangerous, in the council's judgment, to have a 
" Romish " priest, even though a runaway, at 
large, so " Father Potencien " was again con- 
fined to his lodgings. It was learned subse- 
quently that Houdin was born in February, 1705^, 
and in 1730 had been ordained in the Franciscan 



IN OLD NEW YORK 291 

order by the Archbishop of Treves. On his 
arrival in Canada he had been preferred to 
the office of Superior of the Convent of 
Recollects. 

He had so far ingratiated himself into the' 
good graces of his new friends in New York that 
after publicly renouncing the Catholic faith and 
subscribing to the Articles of the Church of Eng- 
land, on Easter Sunday, 1747, he was invited, in 
June, 1750, to officiate as a minister in Anntown, 
AUentown, Bordentown, and Trenton, New 
Jersey. Without waiting for a license from the 
Bishop of London, he accepted the call from 
New Jersey. For his New Jersey missionary 
labors he received an annual gratuity of <£30 
from the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts. He preached in Trinity 
Church, New York city, about this time. 

By command of Lord Loudon, he accompan- 
ied the expedition under General Wolfe against 
Canada in 1759, and ranked as chaplain in Lord 
Amherst's army in 1761. The New York Post 
Boy, issue of June 4th, 1761, contained the fol- 
lowing: " We hear from Montreal that the Vicar 
General of all Canada, residing at Montreal, has 
wrote a pressing invitation to the Rev. Mr. 
Udang (Houdin) the Chaplain of a Regiment 
at Quebec to return to the Romish religion with 
a promise of great preferment in the Church, 
which Mr. Udang put into the hands of General 
Murray, who sent it enclosed to General Gage, 
who, upon the receipt of it sent a guard to take 
the Vicar General into custody; what will be the 
issue is not known." As the British authorities 
at that time were anxious to concihate the Can- 



292 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

adians, it is not likely that the " issue " was very 
serious for the Vicar General. 

The Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts appointed Houdin mission- 
ary to the church in New Rochelle in August, 
1761, and the wardens and vestrymen petitioned 
Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden to 
grant a brief through the province to collect £400 
to build a parsonage for Houdin — " a French 
Refuge, a Gentleman of Good Character." An 
application for a church charter in 1762 was 
signed, among others, by " Michael Houdin, 
Minisr, John houdin, Catherine houdin, Kitty 
houdin and Elizabeth houdin." 

Houdin died in October, 1766, and the Rev. 
Harry Munro, of Yonkers, preached the funeral 
service from the text, " Prepare to meet thy 
God." The body was placed beneath the chancel 
of the old French church. The building was de- 
molished in course of time, and the shifting of 
street lines left Houdin's dust under the high- 
way. In the Liste Chronologique of the Cana- 
dian clergy, " Potentian Houdin," a Recollect, is 
recorded as having left the country in 1748, but 
this date is evidently erroneous. 

" Popery " was again appearing, it was feared, 
in the city in 1744. To better their fortunes. 
Christian Frederic Post, a joiner, and David 
Zeisberger, a carpenter, came to town in Febru- 
ary, and were at once arrested and imprisoned in 
the City Hall under suspicion of being disguised 
" Papists." Public excitement was allayed, and 
they were released when they protested that they 
were Moravians from Pennsylvania, and to 
prove it produced a document from the famous 



IN OLD NEW YORK 293 

Moravian leader, Conrad Weiser, Justice of the 
Peace of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, coun- 
tersigned by Governor George Thomas of that 
province, certifying that the bearers were true 
Protestants. 

War was declared by France against England 
in 1744, and French prizes and prisoners began 
to come into the port. The following description 
of a prize, from the columns of the New York 
Evening Post of June 28th, reads a trifle too 
much like romance. The "brave and active 
Thomas Frankland " brought in a French ship of 
400 tons and 20 guns, " having on board 800 
serons of coca in each of which 'tis said is depos- 
ited as customary a Bar of Gold 68 Chests of 
Silver Coins (already found) containing 310,000 
Pieces of Eight. Private Adventure in Gold 
and Silver Coins, and wrought Plate of equiv- 
alent Value besides which there had been also 
found a compleat Set of Church Plate, a large 
Quantity of Gold Buckles and Snuff*-boxes, a 
curious Two-wheeled Chaise of Silver the Wheels 
and Axles &c of the same Metal a large Quan- 
tity of Diamonds, Pearl and other precious 
Stones, upwards of 600 Weight of gold &c. 
Gold was also found secreted in the ship's knees 
and Barricades and the prisoners wore shoes with 
hollow heels also full of Gold. Among the pris- 
oners was a nephew of the Viceroy of Mexico." 
The weak point in this Munchausen-like story is 
that there is no " brave and active Thomas Frank- 
land " recorded as from the port of New York, 
but the story is interesting, if only for its indica- 
tion that the eighteenth century newspaper re- 
porter was not lacking in imagination. 



294 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The French and Spanish prisoners were not 
allowed at large during the summer of 1744, but 
were confined in the county jails and were main- 
tained, such maintenance as they got, as county 
charges. Any of them found straggling about 
the town were brought before a magistrate. Of- 
ficers of vessels were allowed to remain in town 
upon giving their parole of honor not to 
" stir out " unaccompanied, and on promise to 
return to quarters early every night. Boatswain 
mates and carpenters of prizes were permitted 
to seek employment from carpenters and riggers 
in the city, but the prejudice against them pre- 
vented their finding employment. 

Governor Clinton informed the assembly that 
it must care for and maintain the Frenchmen 
and Spaniards as all civilized nations took care 
of their prisoners of war. The assembly was of 
opinion that the owners of privateers should pro- 
vide for the officers of prizes taken by their ves- 
sels, but the owners refused to spend a penny for 
their maintenance. The assembly, as the number 
of prisoners increased, began to chafe under the 
expense of their subsistence, and wanted them 
shipped off* to French ports without delay. Nich- 
olas Bayard and Henry Cuyler offered to trans- 
port them to any port the Governor would 
designate, at <£20 a head, if granted permission 
to carry a flag of truce. During 1745 many 
French and Spanish prisoners were carried from 
the port to the West Indies in " flags of truce." 
It will be recalled that, in the trials of the Span- 
ish negroes accused of complicity in the negro 
plot of 1742, their claim to be freemen was dis- 
allowed on the ground that their petition for 



IN OLD NEW YORK 295 

freedom should have been submitted at the pro- 
ceedings for their condemnation as slaves. Re- 
ports of these trials must have reached the Span- 
ish West Indies, because, June 6th, 1745, 
Fernando Bernard, Fernando Bernal and An- 
tonio Agilar, three Spanish negroes, presented 
to Governor Clinton a petition on behalf of 
themselves and five others captured and brought 
into port by the privateer " Batchelors," setting 
forth that they were free Spanish subjects, and 
praying that they be not condemned and sold as 
slaves. 

Notwithstanding the presence of numbers of 
French and Spanish Catholic prisoners of war 
in the city, the Reverend Robert Jenney wrote, 
November 14th, from Philadelphia, to the Sec- 
retary of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts: " There is not in New 
York the least trace of Popery." 



296 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER XV 

CONCERNING NEW YORK PRIVATEERSMEN AND 
THEIR INHUMAN TRAFFIC IN SPANISH FREE- 
MEN 

New York city, a hotbed of political and re- 
ligious hatred and suspicion, was not a desirable 
place of abode in colonial war times. Even pro- 
fessional men did not hesitate to discredit and 
destroy rivals by appealing to the bigotry of 
the community. 

Among the physicians practising in the city 
in 1746 were Doctors Thomas Standard, Will- 
iam Browne John and Magraw. A letter was 
handed to the Clerk of the Council by Doctor 
Standard, February 10th, in which he stated 
that Doctor Browne John had told the writer 
that Doctor Magraw, a practising physician of 
the city, was a pensioner of the King of France. 
This information, it was asserted, had come from 
a Mrs. Garland, or Galland, who had it from 
Magraw's wife. The council was startled. That 
a pensioner of the King of France was in the 
city in a position to enter the families of men 
of all stations and acquire information of all 
kinds in war time suggested spying and unlaw- 
ful correspondence with the King's enemies. 

The council appointed a committee of five to 
investigate, with instructions to seize and secure 



IN OLD NEW YORK 297 

Doctor Magraw's person and papers if it should 
appear that he was in the French King's pay. 
The disclosure caused a flurry of excitement, 
and a Frenchman from Cura^oa and two others 
from Connecticut, with a pass from the Gov- 
ernor of that province, were imprisoned until a 
flag of truce was ready to carry them to some 
French port. The council's committee met with- 
out a day's delay and summoned all the people 
mentioned in Doctor Standard's letter to ap- 
pear for examination. Doctor Browne John, be- 
ing sworn, testified: " That his wife told him 
that Doctor Fisher told her and that Mrs. Gal- 
land told him or his wife that Mrs. Magraw told 
Mrs. Galland that Doctor Magraw was a pen- 
sioner of the King of France, and the deponent 
further stated that he had often heard that Doc- 
tor Magraw was brought up a Jesuit." (Worse 
and worse!) 

Doctor Archibald Fisher, being called, testi- 
fied " that some time last spring, to the best of 
his remembrance, Mrs. Galland told him that 
Mrs. Magraw informed her that Doctor Magraw 
had been a pensioner of the French King or 
Court of France." Mrs. Galland, the next wit- 
ness, testified: "That Mrs. Magraw and she 
had been talking about traveling. Mrs. Magraw 
told her that Doctor Magraw, her husband, had 
formerly had a pension from the Court of 
France, and that it had been taken away from 
him four or five years ago." The committee 
deliberated for awhile and reached the sensible 
finding that the grounds were not sufficient to 
warrant Doctor Standard in writing his letter 
of denunciation to the council's clerk. 



298 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Aroused by the frequent condemnation to 
slavery of free Spanish subjects in New York 
and the capture of Spanish flag-of -truce vessels 
on the high seas, the Spanish authorities in the 
West Indian islands took steps to end these in- 
tolerable conditions. Arthur Helme, a piratical 
privateersman, owner of the New York privateer 
"Polly" (2nd), was a notorious offender 
against the Spaniards. He was in southern 
waters with a flag of truce in the spring of 1746, 
and was captured by the Spanish authorities, 
likely on the ground that his actions had put him 
outside the operation of the laws of civilized 
nations. His capture caused a flurry in New 
York governmental circles, and was referred by 
the Governor and council to a committee for 
consideration and report. Horsmanden, of 
negro plot notoriety, was chairman of the com- 
mittee, and his report, submitted May 3rd, was 
a characteristic specimen of British bluster. The 
report recommended that the Advocate- General 
prosecute Helme as soon as he arrived in New 
York, and that the Governor write the Marquis 
De Caylus, Governor of Martinico (Martin- 
ique), expressing surprise that he should detain 
English subjects prisoners, as justice would be 
done by Helme's government on him. It recom- 
mended that the Governor detain all Spanish 
prisoners until the Marquis released the Eng- 
lishmen detained by him. 

In reference to a complaint from the Gov- 
ernor of Havana that several Spanish mulattoes 
had been condemned as slaves, the committee 
recommended the Governor of New York to 
write to him of Havana, " expressing your sur- 



IN OLD NEW YORK ^ 299 

prise at his detaining English subjects in the 
same manner as the Marquis De Caylus," and 
promising that Governor CHnton would direct 
the Judge of the Admiralty to reconsider the 
sentences of condemnation to slavery in cases 
in which the Spanish Governors would certify 
that the condemned were free Spanish subjects, 
and concluded " lastly, that your Excellency in- 
sist on the discharge of such of the King of 
Great Britain's subjects as are now prisoners at 
the Havannah upon the matter of this com- 
plaint." 

The British colonial governments were soon 
to learn that bluster and bluff would not settle 
this serious matter. In June, Governor Clinton 
received a letter from Governor William 
Greene, of Rhode Island, requesting him to re- 
lease from slavery as many Spanish free sub- 
jects taken by the privateersmen John Dennis 
and Robert Morris as could be found in New 
York. It developed that, as early as February, 
Don Juan Franz de Nunez y Havasitas had 
written to John Tinker, Governor of the Baha- 
mas, informing him that he had exchanged cer- 
tain English prisoners, and demanding the 
release of free Spaniards made slaves in New 
York, threatening retaliation in the event of a 
refusal. 

The Spanish sloop "San Miguel y la Virgen 
de los Dolores," flying a flag of truce, sailed up 
New York Bay July 19th. Her commander, 
Don Jose Espinosa, was a fine type of the 
Spanish gentleman and sailor, admirably fitted 
for the difficult mission that had taken him to 
New York. He bore twenty-one letters from 



300 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Governor Nunez y Havasitas to Governor Clin- 
ton, including a list of sixty-nine English pris- 
oners sent by the Governor of Havana on Es- 
pinosa's sloop for exchange. The first business 
considered seems to have been a review of the 
disposition of the petition of the free Spanish 
negroes, Bernal, Agilar and others, presented to 
Governor Clinton in 1745. The results were as 
follows: Fernando Bernal, sold for <£28, was 
liberated. Antonio Agilar, sold to the priva- 
teersman, Thomas Seymour, for <£46, and car- 
ried by him to sea, was declared free on the oath 
of Don Jose Espinosa that he was a freeman. 
Thomas Joseph, sold to another privateersman, 
Captain Thomas Grennell, for £51, had died. 
Manuel Cervantes, who was about to be sold to 
Captain Farman, was freed on Don Jose Es- 
pinosa's affidavit. Anthony De Ferres, who 
had been sold to Thomas Barnes for £31, was 
likewise liberated by Espinosa's affidavit. Two 
other negroes, sold to Captains Grennell and 
Keleltas for £56 and .£42, were condemned as 
slaves. 

Espinosa wrote to Mayor Stephen Bayard, 
July 29th, a letter that throws some light on the 
character of British colonial privateersmen, even 
when dealing with their own countrymen in mis- 
fortune. A privateer brigantine from Rhode 
Island, commanded by Captain Sangrene ( Sam 
Green?), with Daniel Denton, lieutenant, cap- 
tured a Havana galley and other Spanish ves- 
sels near Cape San Antonia. Two of these 
vessels were retaken by the Spaniards, on one of 
which were twenty-one Englishmen, including 
Daniel Denton. At Havana the prisoners were 



IN OLD NEW YORK 301 

positively identified as having sold free Spanish 
negroes and mulattoes, captured as prisoners of 
war, into slavery in the English colonies. The 
Governor of Havana thereupon told Denton 
that, unless he brought back to Havana every 
free Spanish subject sold by him and his mates 
as slaves, he would condemn the twenty English 
prisoners to slavery. The prisoners executed a 
power of attorney to Lieutenant Daniel Denton 
to receive the shares due them in Rhode Island 
for the prizes taken, and with this money he was 
to redeem the Spaniards and reconduct them to 
Havana. Denton sailed away to the north, and 
nothing further was heard from him. The 
Spanish Governor awaited his return for a 
reasonable time and then imprisoned the Eng- 
lishmen in a castle. 

" I, the supplicant," wrote Espinosa to Bay- 
ard, " has seen them at his departure w'th teers 
in their eyes that their affliction was so great, 
they only desired him to doe all in his power for 
them. And having sertain inteligence that there 
is in the City sundry free Spanis mulattos and 
negroes sold as slaves I cannot discharge the 
trust imposed in me if I did not pray for your 
Honor's assistance that they may be restored to 
me. 

Such was the attitude of a Spanish colonial 
Governor and an agent towards a black man one 
hundred and sixty years ago. In this, at least, 
the Latin was far in advance of the so-called 
Anglo-Saxon. Espinosa in this letter gave the 
names of nineteen Spanish Americans held in 
New York as slaves who were, he could swear 
positively, Spanish free subjects. He asked the 



302 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

mayor to obtain a passport for lago Ferara, one 
of his men, to enable him to proceed to Rhode 
Island to endeavor to find the Spaniards who 
were held in slavery there and to recover, if pos- 
sible, .£400 that Ferara had advanced in Havana 
to Denton and his fellow prisoners. In conclu- 
sion, he asked Bayard for permission to refit his 
vessel for the return voyage. 

The activity of the Spanish authorities in be- 
half of Spanish subjects worried the New York 
government. Governor Clinton wrote from Al- 
bany, in August, concerning the council's action 
in referring to a committee the matter of con- 
demnation of Spanish mulattoes. He urged the 
committee " to proceed with the utmost despatch 
in the matter thus referred to them, that justice 
may be done without delay, with respect to said 
Spanish Prisoners reclaimed by this flag of truce 
(Espinosa's), otherwise the equity of this gov- 
ernment would be reflected upon, and ill conse- 
quences ensue to every English prisoner that 
now or hereafter may fall into the enemy's 
hands." The Governor did not deem it prudent 
to grant Espinosa's request for a pass to permit 
Ferrara to proceed to Rhode Island, but was 
willing to transmit to the Rhode Island author- 
ities demands to be made on any person there 
and to press the Governor to issue orders that 
justice should be done. While the Governor 
was urging haste in the matter of the condemned 
Spaniards, efl*orts were made by some masters 
of privateers to smuggle them out of the prov- 
ince. Watchful and energetic Espinosa learned 
of their purpose, and charged Captains Thomas 
Seymour and Thomas Barnes with such inten- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 303 

tion. On his complaint an order was granted 
for the two captains to appear before the council 
and make explanations. 

Espinosa had arrived in the port July 19th, 
and September 16th he had to petition the colo- 
nial authorities for the sum due him, either in 
cash or provisions, for the transportation and 
maintenance of the sixty-nine English prisoners 
brought by him to New York for exchange, 
having up to that date received nothing. He at 
the same time, tired of the shilly-shallying, made 
a formal demand for all the Spanish free ne- 
groes and mulattoes, prisoners of war in the 
province. A few words concerning the manner 
in which these sixty-nine Englishmen were taken 
prisoners will indicate the forbearance of the 
Spaniards. Two vessels from Havana captured 
the privateer snow " Cruizer," William Clymer, 
master, of Philadelphia, May 3rd, 1746, and 
found on board of her, armed, eighteen English 
sailors who had been taken out of the Eng- 
lish sloop " Kingston," Thomas Parker, master. 
Parker's sloop had been granted a flag of truce 
by the Governor of Havana to proceed along 
the Cuban coast to the south of Cape Corrientes 
to pick up English prisoners and carry them to 
Jamaica for exchange. In violation of the mari- 
time laws of war Clymer had taken these men 
from the flag of truce and had enrolled them in 
his crew. It was these men Espinosa had car- 
ried to New York. The council's committee on 
the condemnation of the Spaniards having con- 
cluded its labors, a decree of admiralty was 
handed down September 29th. It stated that 
but nine of the mulattoes, Indians and negroes. 



304 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

claimed by the Governor of Havana were 
brought into New York, the others into Rhode 
Island. It was ordered that Anthony De Tor- 
res, Fernando Bernal, Anthony Agilar, or 
Aguilar, and Manuel Cerventes be restored to 
freedom " upon the purchasers of them being 
respectively paid their money." 

Having finished the repairs to his sloop, and 
with the Spanish prisoners exchanged for the 
Englishmen he had taken to New York, Espin- 
osa sailed for Havana in October. He bore a 
certificate and passport, with the seal of the 
province affixed, granted him by Governor Clin- 
ton. In it the Governor requested all com- 
manders of his Majesty's ships and privateers 
to grant the sloop protection and safe conduct. 
Midway between Governor's Island and the 
Narrows, within the jurisdiction of the New 
York government, Espinosa's sloop was at- 
tacked and captured by the New York priva- 
teer " Ranger," John Easom, or Easoner, com- 
mander. Espinosa produced the Governor's 
certificate, but Easom ignored it and took the 
Spanish sloop into Perth Amboy, New Jersey. 
Espinosa and his men were made prisoners and 
the Governor's passport and every other docu- 
ment taken from them by Easom and his men. 
Easom filed a libel in the Vice- Admiralty Court 
of New Jersey October 22nd, praying that all 
the goods on the Spanish vessel be unloaded and 
everything not necessary for the subsistence of 
the crew and passengers condemned as a lawful 
prize. Accordingly everything on board was 
put ashore at Perth Amboy, and Easom's insin- 
uation that the cargo consisted in part of gun- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 305 

powder, shot and munitions of war was proven 
false. Having found some private property of 
Espinosa's on board, not necessary for the sub- 
sistence of the crew, Easom pressed for its con- 
demnation as a lawful prize. Espinosa appealed 
to Governor Clinton for aid and protection un- 
der his passport, and the Governor, on Novem- 
ber 18th, directed Advocate-General Richard 
Bradley, of the province of New York, to enter 
and prosecute a claim in the Vice- Admiralty 
Court on Espinosa's behalf for the libeled goods. 
The law's quibbles held Espinosa in these parts 
until late in the spring of 1746, but long before 
that time the New York authorities had taught 
Easom that it was a dangerous contempt to ig- 
nore a Governor's passport, and Espinosa had 
obtained from the council a decision that Span- 
ish mulattoes sold as slaves were thenceforth to 
be treated as prisoners of war. 

A skirmish between inhabitants of Albany 
County and a band of Canadian Indians on the 
frontier, June 3rd, 1746, caused apprehensions 
of an invasion from that quarter, and the coun- 
cil advised the Governor to order all the French 
prisoners of war in New York city to be sent 
over to Jamaica, Nassau (Long) Island. Three 
days later Clinton ordered the sheriff of Kings 
County to take eleven of the prisoners to Flat- 
bush and the sheriff of Queens County to take 
nine of them to Jamaica, all to be quartered in 
such houses as the local justices of the peace 
would deem most convenient. 

Among the French prisoners in the city were 
Charles De Bougie, Judge of Martinico; An- 
thony Le Moyne, commissary of that island; M. 



306 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Sherbeil and M. Duplessis, who had been cap- 
tured on the high seas and taken into the port by 
the privateer " Prince Charles." They peti- 
tioned the Governor to permit them to take 
passage on the sloop " William " for Madeira, 
and their request was granted, with the proviso 
that they should carry away no letters. The 
French prisoners were searched and examined 
September 30th, and every scrap of writing in 
their possession was seized and sealed. Among 
the papers was found a list of the vessels in Ad- 
miral D'Anville's fleet. 

Some idea of the number of prisoners in the 
city may be formed from the fact that in the lat- 
ter part of 1746 and beginning of 174i7 seven 
sloops, four brigantines and one snow were ap- 
pointed flags of truce to carry the Frenchmen 
and Spaniards to West Indian ports for ex- 
change. The assembly put a very scandalous 
and embarrassing question to Governor Clinton 
in 1747, when it asked if he had heard the rumor 
that he had been " grafting," as it is called in 
modern parlance, by selling French and Spanish 
prisoners of war to flag-of -truce vessels for sev- 
eral pistoles a head. He indignantly denied the 
rumor. 

Affidavits made by Bernard Eyraud, surgeon, 
and Jean Dupuy, second lieutenant, of the 
French ship " Marguerite," of Bordeaux, indi- 
cate the heartlessness and inhumanity of the 
commissioned pirates, known as privateersmen, 
who hailed from New York in that day. The 
two French officers testified that their ship was 
attacked and captured by the New York priva- 
teers " Triton," " Castor " and " Pollux," and 



IN OLD NEW YORK 307 

that Eyraud, Dupuy and thirteen others of the 
crew were put into a small boat, without a com- 
pass, somewhere off the island of Cuycos, and 
left to shift for themselves. After suffering the 
greatest hardships, three of them were rescued 
and taken to New York, twelve of the fifteen 
having succumbed to their sufferings. The New 
York authorities investigated the case, and the 
Advocate-General prosecuted Captain Abraham 
Man of the " Triton," John Burgess of the 
" Pollux " and the captain, " unknown," says the 
record, of the " Castor." It is an odd coincidence 
that one of the two captains who commanded the 
" Castor " between 1743 and 1748 was John 
Easom of Espinosa capture notoriety. 

A treaty of peace was signed between Eng- 
land, France and Spain April 30th, but even 
after news of it reached New York, the priva- 
teers continued to prey on French and Spanish 
commerce. Captain John Burgess, of the 
" Royal Catherine," captured the French priva- 
teer " Le Mars," after a sharp fight, six leagues 
from Sandy Hook, June 4th, and took her crew 
to the city to swell the French population. The 
Common Council presented Burgess with the 
freedom of the city. 

In June twenty-five Frenchmen were sent to 
Canada by way of Crown Point, and a flag of 
truce was granted to carry off a hundred Span- 
iards and Frenchmen. A letter from the Duke 
of Bedford reached the Governor August 9th, 
announcing the end of hostilities between Eng- 
land, France and Spain. Three French vessels, 
" Le Marechal de Saxe," " Le Concorde " and 
*' Le Zephire," were captured and taken into 



308 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

New York after peace had been proclaimed. 
Their masters, Jean Larradi, Joseph OlHer and 
Pierre le Prince, petitioned to have them re- 
turned. Edward Menzies, master of the priva- 
teer " Brave Hawk," was heard in opposition to 
their petition, but the vessels were restored to 
their masters, but with such conditions that they 
received them under protest. The prize brig 
" L'Industrie," Guillaume Chapeliere, master, 
was also returned. There seems to be sufficient 
grounds for the belief that Menzies, of the 
" Brave Hawk," Thomas Randall, of the 
" Fox," and others who had captured the French 
ship " L'Amazone," polocca " St. Charles," ship 
" Le Marechal de Saxe," ship " Le Concorde " 
and brigantines " Le Zephire " and " L'Indus- 
trie," and the SjDanish schooner " San Vincente 
Ferrer " knew of the cessation of hostilities when 
they took the vessels, and it developed during 
the legal proceedings that an effort was made to 
bribe the boatswain of the " Marechal de Saxe " 
to swear falsely to certain maritime irregular- 
ities that would have justified the confiscation of 
that vessel. Clinton, in the latter part of 1748, 
liberated between three and four hundred French 
prisoners of war, sending them home at govern- 
ment expense, and returned to their masters 
seven prizes captured by privateers. 

A distinguished French officer, accompanied 
by three brother officers and sixteen Frenchmen, 
Canadians and Indians, arrived in the city and 
presented his credentials to the council, October 
8th. He was Lieutenant Constant de Marchand 
Des Ligneris, sent by the Marquis de la Galis- 
soniere to negotiate for an exchange of pris- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 309 

oners of war. In the letter from the Governor 
of New France, Galissoniere, to Governor Clin- 
ton, he signified his willingness to set at liberty'- 
and send into the province all English prisoners 
in Canada and all Indians belonging to the Six 
Nations, provided Clinton would release and de- 
liver to him all French captives among the In- 
dians. Des Ligneris, after the negotiations had 
dragged along for two weeks, wrote to Clinton, 
begging him to expedite the exchange of prison- 
ers to j)ermit his return to Canada before the 
winter season made travel difficult. The delay 
was occasioned by the efforts that were necessary 
to induce the unwilling Mohawks to liberate 
their Canadian captives. That Des Ligneris 
was an official and social success in New York 
is indicated in a letter written by Clinton to de la 
Galissoniere in October, 1748 : " Before I con- 
clude I must do justice to Mr. Desligneire who 
by his behaviour has gained my esteem, and the 
esteem of the Gentlemen of this place. It will 
give me pleasure to hear of any favours you 
shall bestow on him on that account." Des Lig- 
neris returned to Quebec in the fall with a party 
of exchanged prisoners, and in December was 
back in New York with thirty-one liberated Eng- 
lishmen. He passed the winter in New York 
and returned to Canada April, 1749. In the fall 
of that year he was sent to New York again by 
Governor de la Jonquiere with an Abnaki 
sachem to treat for the exchange of prisoners. 
He was joined by another Canadian soldier. 
Lieutenant Alexander le Neuf La Valliere, 
Sieur de Beaubassin, in the early summer of 
1750. Beaubassin had with him twenty-four 



310 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEP^ 

English prisoners for exchange. Thirteen other 
prisoners had become Catholics in Canada and 
refused to return to New York. Either Des 
Ligneris or Beaubassin took thirteen exchanged 
Frenchmen back to Canada. 

Lieutenant Des Ligneris performed distin- 
guished services in many parts of what is now 
the United States. He was engaged in De Ram- 
esay's expedition against New York in 1710, 
and later was at Michilimackinac. At a confer- 
ence in Quebec in 1741 he advised Governor de 
Beauharnois to send an expedition against the 
Fox tribe, and had a command in the force that 
operated against the Foxes and Chickasaws, and 
was stationed for a time at Fort Assumption, 
where Memphis, Tennessee, now stands. Later 
he saw service in Acadia. In the spring of 1752 
he was commandant at the Ouyatanons, a French 
post in what is now Indiana, and in July, 1755, 
with M. Dumas, he commanded the detachment 
of 800 French, Canadians and Indians that de- 
feated General Braddock in the battle of the 
Monongahela. He was campaigning on the 
Ohio at Fort Duquesne in 1757-8, and in the lat- 
ter year was nearly surprised by the English at 
Fort Duquesne, but sent out a detachment that 
defeated and pursued them, killed and wounded 
between six and seven hundred, and took the 
commander, four officers and one hundred men 
prisoners. In November, menaced by a force of 
6,000, he removed his artillery, munitions of war 
and subsistence and, having fired the fort, re- 
tired to Fort Machault, at the mouth of French 
Creek, Pennsylvania. He used every endeavor, 
in March, 1759, to induce his Indian allies to at- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 311 

tack the English, but they besought him to fall 
back on Presque Isle. In July of that year Pou- 
chot, the commandant at Fort Niagara, ordered 
him to fall back for the defence of that post. 
He hurried to Pouchot's assistance, but was de- 
feated, wounded and taken prisoner near Fort 
Niagara, after a half century of border war- 
fare under the lily-spangled flag. 

Don Melchor De Navarette, Governor of St. 
Augustine, corresponded with the New York 
provincial government in 1750-1 concerning free 
Spanish Christian negro and mulatto prisoners 
of war held in slavery, and in reference to the 
crew of an English vessel wrecked off the coast 
of Florida, rescued by a Spanish vessel and sent 
by him to New York in an English ship. In the 
following year, 1752, Don Melchor sent to Gov- 
ernor Clinton a list of forty-five Spanish Amer- 
icans in bondage in New York, and requested 
their freedom. He also asked for the restora- 
tion to its owners of the Spanish schooner " Sen- 
orita Del S. Carmen," captured by the privateer 
" Hester " and condemned after the cessation of 
hostilities between England and Spain. The 
various documents issued by the legal depart- 
ment of the New York government are enlight- 
ening as to the methods then in vogue to defeat 
justice. In answer to a summons from Judge 
Lewis Morris of the Court of Vice- Admiralty 
to the possessors of all Spanish negroes and mu- 
lattoes held in slavery and certified to be freemen 
by the Spanish Governor, to appear in court 
with their slaves May 28th, 1752, only four of 
them were produced. A few others appeared 
at later sessions of the court, but of the forty- 



312 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

five many had been carried off in slavery to other 
provinces. The proceedings dragged along, and 
another letter from Governor Garcia De Solis 
in October urged an early settlement of the mat- 
ters in dispute between the two governments. 
Attorney General Kempe suggested to Judge 
Morris that, as the schooner " Del Carmen " was, 
without doubt, captured and condemned after 
the date agreed upon for ceasing hostilities, the 
Court should reverse its sentence of condemna- 
tion and return the schooner or her value to the 
owners, but the judge refused to reverse his de- 
cision, and maintained that the only remedy the 
owners had was to appeal to the courts of Great 
Britain. It was customary for privateers to be 
bonded upon granting letters of marque to them, 
but Kempe was dubious concerning both the 
sufficiency of penalty and the financial ability of 
the bondsmen of the brigantine " Hester," there- 
fore the owners of the " Del Carmen " had no 
redress save an appeal either to " his Majesty in 
Chancery " or a " Commission of Delegates." 

The utter failure of the authorities to carry 
into effect the decisions of the Court of Vice- 
Admiralty, granting freedom to the Spanish 
negroes and mulattoes, and the inability or disin- 
clination of the Court to punish for contempt 
those who defied its mandates, would indicate 
collusion between the authorities and the lawless 
privateersmen who were traffickers in human be- 
ings. Robert Troup, the master of the privateer 
" Hester," carried on so extensive a business in 
kidnapping and selling these free Spaniards as 
to require the services of an agent to manage 
the traffic. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 313 

During the court proceedings that ended in 
declaring Paul Mesquina, a Spanish mulatto, a 
freeman, Troup sent Mesquina to Albany, in 
chains, to be sold into slavery. The Governor 
and council directed Attorney General Kempe 
to prosecute every one who had any part in the 
abduction, but he could find no law to fit the 
case, and Judge Morris decided that he had no 
authority to fine Troup for contempt. 

Juan de Dios de Sozto, or Chiegneto, illegally 
held in slavery by one Milliner, a butcher, was 
declared free. He was spirited away from Mil- 
liner's house and sold to a Newark, N. J., boat- 
man. Francisco Isquiena, a freeman, taken 
prisoner of war by Troup on the " Fleur de la 
Mar," was decoyed by Troup from Fort George^ 
whither he had gone to submit proofs of his be- 
ing a freeman to the Governor, seized and sold 
to a tailor in New Brunswick. Edwards, a New 
York tailor, bought and took him back to New 
York. Isquiena admitted having told Edwards 
he was a slave, but pleaded as an excuse for his 
falsehood that he had been warned of his im- 
prudence in claiming to be a freeman because 
Edwards would not buy him and take him to 
New York, where he could appeal to the author- 
ities for freedom, but he would be sent to distant 
parts, where he could never hope to gain liberty. 
After serving Edwards faithfully for five years, 
to reimburse him for the price he had paid, Is- 
quiena appealed to the Court of Vice Admiralty 
and was declared free. Despite the court's de- 
cision, he had to be smuggled on a vessel bound 
for Cartagena to prevent Edwards from spirit- 
ing him out of the Court's jurisdiction. The 



314 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

condition of affairs is set forth in the report of 
Attorney General Kempe to Governor Clinton: 

" This, Sir, in obedience to your Excellency's 
Commands, I thought it my duty to acquaint 
your Excellency with what has been done since 
my last report towards restoring such of the 45 
Spanish Mulattoes and negroes claimed as free 
subjects by the King of Spain, as have applyed 
for it, and appear to be entitled to, to their free- 
dom, but how farr the ordinary method of Jus- 
tice may be effectual to answer this end, I cannot 
say, whilst people are so hardy as to dare to act 
in opposition to it, as Troup and Milliner have 
done, and Edwards threatens to do; and it is to 
be feared others will act in like manner by their 
example, if some method be not found to pre- 
vent or punish it." 

There was a warm controversy in the city in 
1753 between the Church party and the dis- 
senters as to whether the newly established 
King's College (now Columbia) should be a 
secular or Church of England institution. In 
the heat of controversy the Catholics did not es- 
cape without insult. The following extract 
from an article by William Livingston in the 
Independent Reflector of March 29th, a publi- 
cation issued by the advocates of a secular col- 
lege, indicates that Catholics were still consid- 
ered outside the pale of society: "Add to all 
this that in a new Country as ours, it is incon- 
sistent with good Policy to give any religious 
profession an ascendency over others. The ris- 
ing Prosperity of Pennsylvania is the Admira- 
tion of the Continent and tho' disagreeing from 
them I should always for political Reasons ex- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 315 

elude Papists from the common and equal Bene- 
fits of Society." 

Lieutenant Governor James De Lancey, in a 
letter to the Lords of Trade, commended the 
minister, elders and deacons of the Dutch church 
to their lordships as " loyal people that detest 
the Pope and the Pretender most cordially." 

In America and India, in 1754, France and 
England were drifting into the great conflict 
known in history as the Seven Years' War. 
From the banks of the Ohio and the Canadian 
border came news of battle, and every French 
visitor to New York was regarded with suspicion 
or detained in custody. M. Paco came to town 
early in March, and, on the authorities learning 
that he purposed leaving the province suddenly, 
the sheriff apprehended him, and he was kept in 
custody and compelled to give a bond for £1,000 
not to leave the province without permission. 
The authorities always feared French dancing 
masters, and when a letter was received from 
Governor Lawrence, of Halifax, N. S., in April, 
w^arning them that one of that profession, who 
had recently arrived in the city, was said to be a 
spy, he was seized, his papers examined, and he 
was sent to jail, but afterwards confined in his 
lodgings. He escaped, was captured, and, with 
a number of other Frenchmen, kept within 
bounds until July, when they were shipped to 
Europe or the West Indies, or allowed to pro- 
ceed to Philadelphia or Boston. A few deserters 
from the French garrison of Fort Niagara came 
down to New York, and in December all French 
subjects were ordered to leave the city. 



316 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER XVI 

IN WHICH ACADIAN EXILES AND FRENCH PRIS- 
ONERS OF WAR SWELL THE CITY'S POPULA- 
TION 

The activity of the French along the St. 
Lawrence and the Ohio rivers, in 1755, caused 
warHke preparations in New York. Sir Will- 
iam PepiJerel's 5 1st Regiment was encamped 
on Governor's Island in June, and in the follow- 
ing month Shirley's 50th Regiment, otherwise 
known as the " Dirty Half Hundred," was in 
the city. Both of these regiments contained a 
number of Catholics. 

Braddock's crushing defeat on the Ohio, in 
July, caused consternation, and shortly after the 
news reached the city the Reverend Samuel 
Auchmuty, D.D., preached a sermon in Trinity 
Church, in which he urged his hearers to draw 
their swords in defence of country and religion, 
saying: " Death itsself is far more eligible than 
slavery and Popery, }^e effects of which two 
dreadful evils will be felt should bad manage- 
ment, temerity or a want of public spirit prevail 
amongst us." The dismay over Braddock's de- 
feat and death were changed to joy when the 
tidings of Sir William Johnson's victory over 
Major General Baron de Dieskau, at Lake 
George, reached the city. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 317 

Governor Sir Charles Hardy, on his way up 
the river to Albany, September 10th, met a sloop 
near that city carrying twenty-one French pris- 
oners to New York. Several of them were dan- 
gerously wounded and in a pitiable condition. 
As there was no surgeon on board, he ordered 
the sloop to return to Albany, put on board 
needed stores, and obtained a surgeon. The city 
authorities made provision to care for the pris- 
oners, and they secured the services of Doctor 
Bard to attend the sick and wounded. The 
Baron de Dieskau and Lieutenant de Bernier, 
of the Royal Swedish Regiment, his aide-de- 
camp, arrived in the city October 14th. Both 
were wounded, Dieskau having received four 
wounds, one of them a shot through the hips, 
injuring the bladder, and Bernier slightly hurt 
by a splinter. They were quartered in Mrs. Jon- 
court's, near the harbor, and were moved next 
day to Charles Arding's, near the Common, " as 
more convenient." Another French officer, Cap- 
tain La Coste, was quartered in Mrs. Dimmock's 
on Broadway. On the arrival of these officers 
orders were issued to confine the French pris- 
oners more closely. De Bernier, wandering be- 
yond the limits set him by his custodians, was 
ordered to keep within the Arding house and not 
to presume to send any letters away until they had 
been read by the authorities. De Bernier sailed 
to England on a man-of-war in February, 1756. 
After his exchange he returned to Canada in 
February, 1758, as Assistant Commissary of 
War. Before and after the siege of Quebec in 
the following year he was in charge of the mili- 
tary hospital, and after the fall of the city the 



318 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

victors did not ask his surrender. He was the 
intermediary between the French and EngUsh 
commanders, and won the praises of both armies 
for his excellent services and his care of the sick 
and wounded. He reported to the government 
the capitulation of Canada by M. de Vaudreuil 
in 1760, and superintended the embarkation of 
the evacuating French troops. De Bernier re- 
turned to France with the Chevalier De Levis on 
the " Mary," November, 1760. 

Baron Dieskau's wounds were slow in healing. 
He was sent to Boston in 1756, and after a short 
stay was returned to New York. He sailed for 
Falmouth, England, in March, 1757. He died 
in Surenne, France, from the effects of his 
wounds, September 8th, 1767. Dieskau was a 
Saxon and a lieutenant colonel of cavalry in 
the army of Marshal Saxe. After his defeat he 
seems to have been badly treated by the French 
government. Braddock and Dieskau, both 
brave and experienced soldiers in European 
warfare, were defeated by their entire ignorance 
of the tactics of American frontier strife. In a 
a letter to Doctor Cooper, of Kings College, 
Colonel Babcock wrote shortly after the battle 
of Lake George: "The Six Nations, had Sii- 
William been defeated, undoubtedly would have 
joined the Baron — And the City of New York 
would have been the Baron's Head Quarters." 

The tattered uniforms of the prisoners of the 
Regiments La Reine and Languedoc were no 
novelty in New York at that day, and soon the 
quaint costumes of the Acadian peasantry were 
seen in the city. Governor Lawrence, of Nova 
Scotia, wrote Governor Sir Charles Hardy, un- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 319 

der date August 11th, 1755, that " about thirty 
families of the settlers in Nova Scotia, taken at 
the reduction of that part of the province inhab- 
ited by the people commonly called neutral 
French, acquainting his Excellency (Gover- 
nor Hardy) that the resolution of the Council 
called on that occasion w^as that these people 
should be dispersed among the several provinces 
and that in consequence thereof he had sent a 
vessel vv^ith that part of the families to this 
province." 

By war and treaty the peninsula of Acadia, 
or ISTova Scotia, as it is now called, had three 
times passed from France to England, until its 
final cession to England, in 1713. The inhab- 
itants, after the final cession, had the privilege 
of leaving within two years, but most of them 
remained on their farms. They took the oath of 
fidelity to the British Crown, but their strong 
Catholic faith and love of France prompted 
them to refuse the oath of allegiance. They 
were exempted from bearing arms against their 
countrymen, and hence were known as neutral 
French. They were permitted the practice of 
their religion, and were allowed to choose their 
own magistrates. The French of Cape Breton 
kept up a war with the British and incited the 
Indians to attack their settlements. The blame 
for this unrest was put upon the Acadians, and, 
in 1755, having previously begun the coloniza- 
tion of Nova Scotia with English, a wholesale 
deportation of the Acadians, 18,000 souls, was 
determined on. They again refused to take the 
oath of allegiance or to bear arms against the 
French. The unfortunates were forced to give 



320 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

up their property, the torch was appHed to their 
homes and crops, and they were crowded pell- 
mell into ships — in many cases a father sent to 
Georgia, a mother to Pennsylvania and the 
children divided between New York and Massa- 
chusetts. 

The ship with the Acadians arriA^ed in the har- 
bor of New York April 30th, 1756. It had been 
driven off the coast by winter storms and had 
reached the island of St. Christopher. Some of 
the more fortunate of the exiles had found 
means to escape to one of the French West In- 
dian islands. There remained on board twenty- 
one families, numbering 151 men, women and 
children. They were sent to Richmondtown, 
Staten Island, temporarily, pending their dis- 
posal in settlements adjacent to New York. The 
Governor, by advice of his council, commended 
to the city authorities the farming out of the 
boys and girls, separating them, in many cases, 
from their parents forever. Agents were sent 
among the Acadians to represent to them the ad- 
vantage of such a provision for their children, 
enabling them to learn trades by which they 
could, in time, support themselves and their fam- 
ilies. The adults and children were distributed 
in the following places: Richmondtown, Staten 
Island; I'latbush, Bushwick, Jamaica, New- 
town, Flushing, Hempstead, Oyster Bay, 
Huntington, Southold, Easthampton, South- 
ampton, Brookhaven and Smithtown, Long 
Island; New Rochelle and Rye, Westchester 
County. Some of the descendants of these 
exiles, still bearing their French Acadian names, 
are living in the communities to which their an- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 321 

cestors were banished, but they are utterly ig- 
norant of their French Cathohc ancestry. 

Rene Leblanc, an aged Acadian, who had 
served the British government in Acadia as a 
notary pubHc, was one of those landed in New 
York. He had been seized and hurried on ship- 
board with his wife and two younger children. 
Eighteen other children and about 150 grand- 
children were scattered among the colonies along 
the Atlantic seaboard. Leblanc was in infirm 
'health when he landed in New York, but he 
made his way to Philadelphia. He found there 
three more of his children, but his sorrows and 
hardships proved too much for his enfeebled 
frame, and he died shortly after his arrival. 
Poor Leblanc had, like his beloved Acadia, suf- 
fered from both sides. Some years prior to his 
deportation he had been captured by the Indian 
allies of the French, his house had been pillaged, 
and he had been imprisoned four years in a 
French fort. 

A number of battues, containing seventy- 
eight Acadians, were beached on the shores of 
Long Island August 22nd. These Acadians had 
been sent by Governor Lawrence to Georgia. 
The Georgians did not want them, and, with a 
passport, they embarked on their frail craft and 
voyaged to Carolina. 

A home was denied them there, and they were 
permitted to journey further north. The voy- 
agers were in hopes of reaching Boston, with the 
ultimate intention of returning to their beloved 
Acadia. They landed on Long Island, probably 
to replenish their stores. There their voyage ter- 
minated. Governor Hardy ordered that their 



322 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

boats be seized and the Acadians secured. Hardy 
distributed them to " the most remote and secure 
parts " of the province. The local magistrates 
were instructed to obtain employment for the 
strangers and their children — 59 boys and 49 
girls were bound out as apprentices in West- 
chester and Orange counties. 

The lot of these exiles among strangers, who 
hated their faith and nationality, was so hard 
that occasionally a little party would brave the 
terrors of the northern wilderness in the hope of 
reaching New France. The New York Mer- 
cury of July 11th, 1757, says: "We hear that 
a party of French Neutrals, who have been for 
some Time past at and near Westchester made 
their Escape from that Place and were taken up 
near Fort Edward, on their way to Crown 
Point." When the news of the surrender of 
Fort William Henry to the French reached the 
city, August 10th, Lieutenant Governor James 
He Lancey, who had succeeded Hardy, ordered 
all the French prisoners and the Acadians to be 
imprisoned, and three days later orders were is- 
sued directing the sheriffs of the counties to jail 
the prisoners of war and Acadians. 

A letter was received from Fort Neck, Long 
Island, directing attention to the uneasiness 
caused in that section by the growing intimacy 
between the Acadians and negro slaves. A ris- 
ing was feared. In Richmond County the male 
Acadians only were confined in the jail. At 
Brooklyn Ferry seventy-eight Acadians were 
confined in houses transformed into jails. So 
strict was the scrutiny to which foreign stran- 
gers coming to the city were subjected that 



IN OLD NEW YORK 323 

the masters of vessels were obliged to notify the 
government before permitting strangers to go 
ashore. A M. Dumas, a former French army 
officer, landed from a vessel arrived from St. 
Eustatia, in June, 1756, without notification, 
and took up his abode in Mr. Vallarde's. The 
sheriff arrested him, and he continued in cus- 
tody, without being permitted writing materials, 
until his deportation. 

Bad news reached the city in August. The 
Marquis De Montcalm had captured and de- 
stroyed Forts Ontario and Oswego, taken one 
hundred and twenty cannon, six war vessels, 
three hundred boats, three chests of monej^ 
stores, anmiunition and 1,400 prisoners. Lord 
Loudoun, the Commander-in-Chief, billeted one 
thousand regulars upon the citizens of New 
York despite their protests. In the garrison 
was a battalion of the 60th Royal American 
Regiment, containing a number of Catholics. A 
proclamation was issued in September, appre- 
hending and securing all subjects of the French 
King and confining all strangers unable to give 
a satisfactory account of themselves. 

The Spanish American governors, Don Fran- 
cisco Caxegal de Vega, of Havana, and Don 
Alonzo Feruz de Hondia, of St. Augustine, 
were active in their efforts to restore enslaved 
subjects of the Spanish King to freedom, and 
the New York traffickers in human chattels had 
become more audaciously lawless. Judge Lewis 
Morris, of the Court of Admiralty, complained 
to Governor Hardy that, despite the Court's 
judgment declaring a negro free, one Francis 
Johnstone, a cooper, had kidnapped him from an 



324 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

outward-bound flag of truce. In another case the 
Court had decreed that a Spanish negro should 
be committed to the custody of the sheriff while 
his case was pending, because of his owner's 
threat to send him beyond the Court's jurisdic- 
tion. 

There were, up to January 5th, 1757, thirty 
privateers hailing from New York, and fourteen 
prizes, aggregating in value <£100,000, had been 
taken into the port. The masters of privateers 
had become so bold that they considered a 
vessel flying any other flag than the English 
fair spoil of war, and this indiscriminate plun- 
dering brought Master Richard Hadden, of the 
privateer " Charming Peggy," of New York, 
and the master of the privateer " Bermuda," 
from Halifax, into the dock, charged with 
piracy. The ship " Nuestra Senora de Guada- 
lupe " sailed from Santander, Spain, for Santi- 
ago de Cuba, after having been examined and 
passed by a British war ship. Ofl" the coast of 
Bermuda she was attacked and captured by Had- 
den and his Halifax consort and taken into New 
York, with Philip De La Pedra, her master and 
part owner, and her crew of seven, prisoners of 
war. Elated with his success in capturing thus 
easily the vessel of a friendly power, Hadden 
sought his fortunes in the same waters and pres- 
ently took into New York as a prize the Spanish 
schooner " La Virgen del Rosario y el Santo 
Cristo de Buen Viage." Hadden had gone too 
far. The Earl of Holderness, Secretary of 
State for Foreign Afl*airs, forwarded to New 
York a batch of letters and affidavits from Vice 
Admiral Townsend and others relating to the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 325 

piratical behavior of several privateers fitted up 
in North America towards the Spaniards in the 
West Indies, particularly of the " Peggy," of 
New York, Hadden, master, and a privateer 
from Halifax, Snooke, or Sleeth, master. Prose- 
cutions were commenced against Hadden, and 
his sureties and his vessel were detained in port. 
The Spanish vessels were released with pass- 
ports, and the " Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe," 
was granted permission to ship French prisoners 
to make up a crew. There were two hundred of 
these French prisoners in the city in June, and 
the council ordered their distribution in Kings, 
Queens and Westchester counties, and ordered 
that they should be subsisted at the public ex- 
pense. 

The number of commissions issued to priva- 
teers and the manning of all these vessels had 
drained the port of seamen, and as the author- 
ities were very anxious to get rid of the con- 
stantly increasing number of prisoners. Sheriff 
John Roberts was directed to permit merchants 
" to take such French prisoners as they may 
want to navigate their vessels." In July and 
August the number of prisoners was reduced by 
shipping them to French ports on flags of truce 
and as sailors on merchant vessels. Fifty were 
delivered by the sheriff of New York at Brook- 
lyn ferry for distribution among the villages in 
Kings County, and twenty-five were shipped to 
Brookhaven, Suffolk County, by water, with in- 
structions to quarter them in the different com- 
munities if the county jail could not accommo- 
date them. The request of a number of people 
for permission to employ them was granted. 



326 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The privateers " Revenge " and " Hornet " 
brought into the harbor in September as a prize, 
the Genoese ship " Immaculate Conception and 
St. Ignatio de Loiola," Lorenzo Ghiglino, mas- 
ter, flying the Papal flag and bearing a pass 
from Pope Benedict XIV. There was a strong 
protest against this seizure, and the British min- 
ister, William Pitt, interested himself. In 1758 
Ghiglino was permitted to victual for the voy- 
age and, with a number of French prisoners, 
sailed for Genoa. Prisoners of war continued 
to arrive by land and sea, and their maintenance 
became a large item of expense. The assembly 
embarrassed the provincial government, in Jan- 
uary, 1758, by resolving to make no further 
provision for them. The council advised the 
Lieutenant-Governor to take measures to send 
them from New York. 

Among the French and Canadian officers pris- 
oners of war in New York, in March, were Cap- 
tain Jacques Corriveau, Charles Legrand, J. 
Parent, Cadets de Fontenay, Lachauvignerie 
and Laplante, Captain Bonneau, Chevalier De 
Rene, Chevalier Bernard, Lieutenant Jaubert, 
Larochelle, Sieurs Granet and Permittet. Cor- 
riveau, Legrand and Parent engaged themselves 
with General Abercromby to proceed to Canada 
and endeavor to secure from Governor Vau- 
dreuil an exchange for Colonel Peter Schuyler 
and Benjamin Staats, and, if unsuccessful, to 
return to captivity the following January. This 
proposal for an exchange was refused by Gov- 
ernor Vaudreuil on the ground that the articles 
of capitulation of Fort William Henry had re- 
stored these officers to liberty. Corriveau had 



IN OLD NEW YORK 327 

been a prisoner of the British since the defeat of 
Dieskau in 1755. Vaudreuil permitted Captain 
Woodward, a militia officer, to return to New 
England until Abercromby had reclaimed Cor- 
riveau. 

There was jubilation in the city in June over 
the fall of Louisburg. The Spanish sloop " St. 
Joseph," Louis Parlon, master, was captured by 
the privateer " George," and after her cargo 
had been condemned she was released. In June 
140 French prisoners, including eight officers, 
were sent down to the city, and these were joined 
in July by 125 more, including seven officers. 
The last batch was shipped to Suffolk County. 
In July seven French prisoners broke jail and 
fled north. A hue and cry was raised in the river 
counties, and the sheriff of Orange County re- 
captured two of them. They were returned to 
New York and put in irons. The French pris- 
oners of war in the city were of the Regiments 
La Reine, La Sarre, Royal Rousillon, Langue- 
doc, Guienne and Berry, with some Canadians 
and many officers and sailors of French priva- 
teers and merchant vessels. 

The Lieutenant-Governor, in October, commu- 
nicated to the council a letter he had received 
from Governor Stephens, of Rhode Island, rel- 
ative to a complaint from the Governor of San 
Domingo against one Shearman, who had 
broken into and sacrilegiously robbed the church 
at Porto Plata of its sacred vessels and other 
treasures. Captain John Gregg, the master of 
the 16-gun privateer " General Johnson," had 
taken the plunder from Shearman and carried 
it, it was supposed, to New York. His excel- 



328 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

lency of Rhode Island desired his brother of 
New York to do all in his power to " regain the 
plate and punish the villany." Many of these 
commissioned privateers of that day were no 
whit better than Henry Morgan, Lovell and 
others who flew the Jolly Roger. For the two 
years of the war thirty-nine of these licensed 
buccaneers had taken fifty-eight prizes into the 
port. The fortunes of war had changed in 1758. 
In addition to Louisburg, Fort Frontenac had 
surrendered and, later. Fort Duquesne had fallen 
into the hands of the British. 

It was a serious and expensive matter for a 
neutral vessel taken by a privateer and carried 
into New York to endeavor to get out again. 
Captain Michael Angelo Michele, of the Geno- 
ese polacca " St. Joseph," found it so. After 
having been declared by the authorities at liberty 
to proceed, he petitioned to be permitted to sell 
his vessel and cargo to pay the expenses to which 
he had been subjected. 

In August, 730 French prisoners, including 
the eminent engineer. Captain Pouchot, among 
the officers, were brought to the city from Fort 
Niagara, which surrendered July 25th, 1759. 
The officers were sent to Suffolk County, 200 of 
the men to New Jersey, 200 to Connecticut, and 
the others distributed throughout the province. 
These prisoners were detachments of the regi- 
ments of La Sarre, Royal Rousillon, Guienne, 
Beam and the Marines. 

Non-Catholics, while admiring the zeal and 
undaunted courage of the Jesuit missionaries, 
have urged against them that their zeal for 
the salvation of souls was always equalled by 



IN OLD NEW YORK 329 

their political activity to bind the Indians to 
French interests. A letter of no less distin- 
guished a Protestant prelate than Ai'chbishop 
Thomas Seeker, of Canterbury, to Reverend 
Doctor Samuel Johnson, President of King's 
College, September 27th, 1758, may be taken as 
an indication that he had no sympathy with 
this objection. Writing concerning Church of 
England missionaries in America, he said: "I 
suspect that we ought to have more upon the 
frontiers; at least when it shall please God to 
bless us with a peace. For Missionaries there 
might counteract the artifices of the French 
Papists; and do considerable service religious 
and political at once, amongst the neighboring 
Indians; both which points the Society [for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts] 
hath been heavily charged, on occasion of the 
present war, with having neglected." 

The war fever was high in the city in 1759, 
even the pulpit urging recruiting. A sermon 
entitled " The Curse of Cowardice " was printed 
in pamphlet form and found a ready sale. An 
extract read: "Ye that love your religion, en- 
list; for your religion is in danger. Can Prot- 
estant Christianity expect quarter from heathen 
savages and French Papists?" 

During this year victory remained with the 
English. Following the surrender of Niagara, 
Ticonderoga was abandoned and, September 
28th, the British flag supplanted the French over 
the citadel of Quebec. 

General Thomas Gage, the British com- 
mander in New York, wrote a letter in June, 
1760, that was the first evidence of an improved 



330 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

condition of feelings towards the " abhorred 
brood of Jesuits." It was addressed to the 
Jesuit Father Robert Harding, pastor of St. 
Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, asking him to 
send a priest to minister to the Indians of the 
Illinois. 

In September the news reached the city that 
Vaudreuil had capitulated, and that Montreal 
and all the French posts in Canada had been sur- 
rendered. 

The Count de Choiseuil, the French King's 
lieutenant in San Domingo, with his suite, ar- 
rived in the city in September, and he was 
granted a passport to proceed by packet to Fal- 
mouth. 

The elders and deacons of the French Prot- 
estant Church in New York undertook a task, 
in 1763, shortly after the signing of the treaty 
of peace that ceded New France to England, 
that is still far from accomplishment — the con- 
version or perversion of the French Canadians. 
In a petition to Governor Robert Monckton, 
they asked him to grant the French Church a 
charter, and continue: "As they flatter them- 
selves that a French Protestant church in this 
city may invite foreigners of their persuasion to 
come over and settle here, increase the number 
of useful inhabitants, and be a means to reclaim 
the King's Popish subjects in Canada who will 
visit these parts, from the errors, idolatry and 
superstitions of the Church of Rome, and thus 
facilitate their hearty submission to the English 
government." 

Sir William Johnson, writing to the Lords of 
Trade on the subject of missionaries, in Novem- 



7A^ OLD NEW YORK 331 

ber, 1763, said: "Other Missionaries [Prot- 
estant] who have too often used their influence 
in obtaining grants of land which gives the In- 
dians the most unfavorable opinion of their 
worldly and interested views. The Mohawks 
lately told me that they apprehended the reason 
they had not Clergy as formerly amongst them, 
was, because they had no more land to spare. 
The French, who greatly oustripped us in mak- 
ing Proselytes, sent Jesuits and others amongst 
the Indians, who lived in their Castles, and took 
care to form them by their immediate example 
and precept. I fear we shall be unable to pro- 
cure such persons amongst our Clergy." 

Sir James Jay, in a petition to the King, in 
1764, asking for a grant of 200,000 acres of 
land in New York for the endowment of King's 
College, urged the necessity for a seminary for 
the education of ministers, and gives among his 
reasons " the amazing pains which Your Maj^J"^ 
Popish Enemies were everywhere perceived to 
take for the propogation of their peculiar Ten- 
ents and the many Establishments they were 
making for that purpose in all the Countrys of 
America subjected to them ." 

The Marquis de Fenelon, Governor of Mar- 
tinique, applied to the New York government 
to permit the Sieur Nadeau de Belair to take 
150 of the Acadians to the West Indies, in July, 
1764, but Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader 
Colden refused permission without the King's 
consent. 

An advertisement in the New York Weekly 
Gazette, in 1768, read: " To be sold, three doors 
below Mr. Leary's livery stable, in Leary Street, 



332 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

a variety of new saddlery ware by Francis Foth- 
ergill." This was the John Leary who traveled 
to Philadelphia to conform with the Church's 
law of Easter duty. Scoville, in his " Old Mer- 
chants of New York," says: "A man did not 
dare to say he was a Catholic in those days." 
John Leary not only said it, but lived it, not- 
withstanding the popular hatred of his religion. 
Leary 's fellow townsmen evidently honored him 
by giving his name to a street. 

The following year the saintly Father George 
Hunter, for some years Superior of the Jesuit 
Missions in Maryland, passed through New 
York, on his way to Canada. New York had 
grown since the last visit of a Jesuit. Its closely 
settled portion had extended to Reade Street on 
the west side and Catherine Street on the east 
side. Seventeen churches and a synagogue 
housed its worshippers. Its citizens were proud 
of the City Hall in Wall Street, the Province 
House in the fort, the Royal Exchange in Broad 
Street, King's College, its imposing stone build- 
ing in park-like grounds bounded by what are 
now Church Street, West Broadway, Murray 
and Barclay streets. The city had its theater on 
John Street. Its principal hostelries were the 
Province Arms, the Queen's Head (Fraunce's), 
the King's Arms, De la Montanye's and Hamp- 
den Hall, with the Gentlemen's, the Merchants 
and the Exchange coffee houses. In the sum- 
mer pleasure seekers sought the Ranelagh and 
Vauxhall gardens. The Kennedy mansion. No. 
1 Broadway, and the Walton house. Queen's 
Street, St. George's Square (now Franklin 
Square), were the best private dwellings. Since 



IN OLD NEW YORK 333 

1762 the streets had been lighted by pubHc lamps 
on lamp-posts. 

Father Hunter was born in Northumberland, 
England, in 1713, and entered the Society of 
Jesus in 1730. Seventeen years later he was 
sent to the Maryland Mission, remained in 
Maryland nine years, and returned to England. 
Three years later he was again in Maryland. 
After a short stay in Canada, in 1769, he went 
to England. Again he was sent to Maryland, 
and labored there at St. Thomas' Manor, Port 
Tobacco and Bohemia until he died at St. 
Thomas Manor, Charles County, August 1st, 
1779. 

In the province of Ontario to-day are several 
model communities of Scotch Highland Cana- 
dians, staunch Catholics, some of whose ances- 
tors came to America from Glengarry on the 
invitation of Sir William Johnson in 1773. 
They suffered hardships, lack of food and ill 
treatment on the voyage to New York city, and 
it is recorded that a collection was taken up in 
Trinity Church for their relief. They journeyed 
north to the beautiful Mohawk Valley and pros- 
pered there until they followed the fortunes of 
the Tory son of their benefactor, Sir John John- 
son, across the border. 



334 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER XVII 

CONCERNING SOME CATHOLICS WHO FOUGHT 
AND LABORED FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 
AND OTHERS WHO FOUGHT AGAINST IT 

For some years prior to 1765 there were mut- 
terings against English rule because of " inter- 
nal taxations and duties by authority of parlia- 
ment." John Morin Scott in that year published 
an article, over the signature " Freeman," in 
which he asserted: "The English government 
cannot long act towards a part of its dominions 
upon principles diametrically opposed to its 
own, without losing itsself in the slavery it would 
impose upon the colonies, or teaching them to 
throw it off and assert their freedom." The 
Stamp Act was passed March 22nd, 1765, and 
October 7th, of that year, seventy-eight dele- 
gates, representing all the colonies except Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina and Georgia, New York 
being represented by its Committee of Cor- 
respondence, met in New York. A petition to 
the King, to Parliament, and a declaration of 
rights and grievances were the outcome. The 
Stamp Act was to become operative November 
1st. The mutterings became a storm. In March, 
1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, and joy 
throughout the colonies was* unbounded. The 
quartering of troops on the citizens of New 



IN OLD NEW YORK 335 

York was a constant source of trouble, which 
culminated in a collision between the citizens and 
some of the Sixteenth Regiment on John Street, 
between Cliff and William streets. This en- 
counter, in which several were hurt on both sides, 
is sometimes called the battle of Golden Hill. 

The Continental Congress assembled in Phil- 
adelphia in September, 1774. The same year, in 
June, the Quebec Act had been passed in Parlia- 
ment, and this proved the " last straw," because 
it introduced into the troubles between England 
and her colonies the bitterest and most irrecon- 
cilable difference of all — religious hatred. The 
Quebec Act by its provisions enlarged the 
boundaries of the Catholic province of Quebec 
as defined in 1764. They were extended on one 
side to the frontiers of New England, Pennsyl- 
vania, New York, the Ohio and the left bank of 
the Mississippi, and north to the Hudson's Bay 
territory. The act preserved to the Catholics the 
rights assured them by the articles of capitula- 
tion, including the right of tithes for the sup- 
port of religion, and relieved them from the 
operations of the infamous Test Act. French 
civil procedure and English criminal law and 
laws of successions to property were to be en- 
forced. A governing council, part Catholic, 
part Protestant, was provided. The King re- 
served the right to found all civil and ecclesiasti- 
cal tribunals. 

The passage of this act raised a tremendous 
storm of protest on both sides of the ocean. 
King George, it was charged, had " established 
Popery in Canada." It was the general convic- 
tion that this act was the price paid by the Eng- 



336 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

lish government for Canadian cooperation in 
the " enslavement of the Protestant colonies." 
Religious bodies and town meetings throughout 
the colonies fulminated against it, and the Con- 
tinental Congress, in an " Address to the People 
of Great Britain," declared, October 21st, 1774: 
" That we think the Legislature of Great Brit- 
ain is not authorized by the Constitution to es- 
tablish a Religion fraught Math sanguinary and 
impious Tenets," and, further, " Nor can we 
suppress our astonishment that a British Parlia- 
ment should ever consent to establish in that 
country, a Religion that has deluged your Island 
in blood and dispersed Impiety, Bigotry, Perse- 
cution, Murder and Rebellion through every part 
of the World." 

These tirades were for British and home con- 
sumption, but the assistance of the Canadians 
was needed, and within the same month the same 
Congress, in an " Address to the Inhabitants of 
Quebec," said: " What is offered to you by the 
late Act of Parliament — Liberty of Conscience 
in your Religion ? No. God gave it to you and 
the temporal powers with which you have been 
and are connected finally stipulated for your 
enjoyment of it." The following May a letter 
was addressed to the inhabitants of Quebec, 
which read, in part: "The enjoyment of your 
very Religion, on the present system, depends 
on a Legislature in which you have no Share, and 
over which you have no Control, and your Priests 
are exposed to Expulsion, Banishment and 
Ruin, whenever their Wealth and Possessions 
furnish sufficient Temptation. . . . We are your 
friends, not your enemies." Such was the con- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 337 

dition of affairs in the colonies on the eve of the 
Revolutionary War. The anti- Catholic feeling 
awakened by the Quebec Act was strong in New 
York city. A folio broadside, issued in March, 
advising the people to resist British tyranny and 
uphold their representatives in the Continental 
Congress, was headed: "No Placemen, Pen- 
sioners, Ministerial Hirelings, Popery and Ar- 
bitrary Power." In a procession of the " Friends 
of Freedom " through the streets to attend a 
meeting in the Exchange, a large Union flag 
with a blue field was carried, on which was the 
following inscription: " George III Rex. The 
Liberties of America. No Popery. The Union 
of the Colonies. The, Measures of the Con- 
gress." 

New York was at this time rapidly approach- 
ing a state of anarchy, and the mob was in the 
ascendant. The more law-abiding of the repub- 
licans held a meeting for the purpose of signing 
a convention to restore peace in the city and 
province and to protect them from mob rule. 
Isaac Low, Chairman of the Committee, a mem- 
ber of the Provincial and Continental Congress, 
and afterwards an ardent Tory, in the course of 
his address in opening the proceedings, asserted, 
it is said, by Thomas Jones, in his " New York 
in the Revolutionary War," that King George 
was a Roman Catholic tyrant ; that he had broken 
his coronation oath by establishing the " Popish " 
religion in Canada, which was shortly to be ex- 
tended to all the other colonies. 

There was a little house in Wall Street to 
which sometimes, on Sunday mornings, a hand- 
ful of people would journey. In the troublous 



338 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

times of 1775, when plotting and counterplot- 
ting were continually carried on, these meetings 
in the little house of Idley, the German, were 
not remarked, but had it been whispered that a 
Jesuit priest celebrated Mass therein, there would 
have been trouble. The ]3riest was the devoted 
pioneer. Father Farmer, who for many years 
traveled the sparsely settled regions of Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey, and carried religious con- 
solation to the few scattered Catholics. Unfor- 
tunately there are few details of his ministry in 
New York. Joseph Idley, sexton of St. Peter's 
Church in 1807, told of the celebration of Mass 
in his house in Wall Street, and that the 
windows had to be tightly shuttered to avoid 
detection. Archbishop Carroll praises the zeal 
of Father Farmer, and refers to his visits to 
New York before the Revolutionary War, when 
the legal punishment was death for priests or 
Jesuits presuming to set foot in the province. 
Barbe Marbois, the French minister, in 1784, and 
Louis Otto, the French Charge d' Affaires, in 
1786, writing to the French government, both 
say there was a Catholic chapel in New York 
that was destroyed in the great fire that followed 
the American evacuation in 1776. 

Father Ferdinand Farmer, or Steenmeyer, 
for he changed his name the better to adapt it to 
English tongues, was born in South Germany in 
1720. He became a Jesuit priest, and was sent 
to Philadelphia in 1758. He was stationed in 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for six years, from 
whence he visited the Catholic families of Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, and entered New 
York before the Revolutionary War. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 339 

In the spring of 1775 hostilities began, and 
Canada was invaded. Ticonderoga, Crown 
Point, Chambly, St. John's and Montreal sur- 
rendered to the patriots. In October and 
November detachments of French Canadian 
and English prisoners of war, women and 
children as well as soldiers, passed through New 
York and were sent to Amboy, and thence to 
Reading, Bristol and Trenton. Among the 
French Canadians of note who were sent South 
or to Hartford, Connecticut, were St. Ours, 
Hervieux Heurimont, de Chambault, la Marque 
Duchene, Demuraux, Corne de St. Luc, Gais- 
son, Hertel, de la Magdelaine, Rouville, Game- 
Ion, Ryall, Chartier de Lotbiniere, Tonancour, 
Fleuromont and Major Regonville, of the 
King's Legislative Council and an officer of the 
Corps of Canadian Militia. In December, Re- 
gonville, a prisoner in Trenton, applied to Con- 
gress for permission to go to Philadelphia " to 
confess himself to a Priest " ; that is, perform 
his Christmas duty. The request was granted. 
The Canadian prisoners, with two exceptions, 
were liberated October 10th, 1776. 

The news from Concord and Lexington 
reached New York city, Sunday, April 23rd, 
and public feeling became so intense that, May 
26th, the detachment of one hundred of the 18th 
Royal Irish Regiment, Major Isaac Hamilton, 
commander, with the soldiers' families, embarked 
on the warship " Asia," lying off the Battery. 
On the march to the water front many of the 
men deserted, and the wagons containing stores 
and baggage were seized by the people. This 
regiment was one of four recruited in Ireland 



340 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

during the reign of William III, and contained, 
originally, according to law, none but Prot- 
estants; but England needed fighting men, and 
the law was relaxed. The regiment was ordered 
to America in 1767, and detachments were sent 
to different parts of the country. Father Gi- 
bault, known to American Catholics as the 
" Patriot Priest of the Revolution," reported to 
Bishop Briand, of Quebec, June 15th, 1769, that 
he found Catholics in the 18th Royal Irish Regi- 
ment, stationed in Kaskaskia, the commandant 
giving the men every facility to attend to their 
religious duties. 

The Americans who invaded Canada were re- 
ceived with open arms by the people, and their 
early successes were due in great measure to the 
assistance given by the Canadians. It was not 
long before Canadian sentiment changed. There 
were a number of causes for this: The transla- 
tion and dissemination of the address of Con- 
gress to the people of Great Britain and the let- 
ter to the inhabitants of Quebec, which convicted 
Congress of insincerity and revolted and in- 
sulted the French Canadians; the weakness and 
lack of resources of the invaders and their scurvy 
treatment of the Canadian clergy and people; 
but, more far-reaching and powerful than all 
other agencies in weaning the Canadians from 
the Americans, was the vigorous hostility of 
Bishop Jean Oliver Briand, of Quebec. By ex- 
hortation, admonitions, public penances, excom- 
munications and suspensions, he drew his clergy 
back from rebellion and held them loyal to Great 
Britain. Who shall blame him? On the one 
hand, English rule had been established for fif- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 341 

teen years, and every promise made to the 
Church by the Enghsh authorities, at the time of 
the capitulation, had been faithfully observed. 
On the other hand, the " perfidious, double-faced 
Congress," as the Canadians called it, heaped 
insults on the religion of the Canadians in ad- 
dressing the British Protestants and offered 
friendship and liberty of conscience to the Cana- 
dians at the same time, whilst every American 
community raved about " Popish establish- 
ment." 

The Congress quickly realized the change of 
sentiment and strove, too late, to avert it. On the 
last day of 1775, the gallant Montgomery 
stormed Quebec, and fell in the assault. Con- 
gress, February 15th, 1776, resolved " that a 
committee of three — two of whom to be mem- 
bers of Congress — be appointed to repair to 
Canada, there to pursue such instructions as shall 
be given them by that body." Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll, of 
Carrollton, were named, the first two being mem- 
bers. A special resolution requested Charles 
Carroll " to prevail on Mr. John Carroll to ac- 
company the Committee to Canada to assist 
them in such matters as they shall think useful." 
John Carroll, a Marylander by birth and a 
Jesuit by vocation, was an American patriot in 
every fiber of his body, and his cousin, Charles 
Carroll, had no difficult}^ in prevailing on him to 
respond to the call of his country. " No greater 
power of combined wealth, intellect and enthusi- 
asm existed anywhere in America," says a writer, 
" than the union of the Carrolls and the Jesuits 
in Maryland in the person of John Carroll." 



342 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Born in Upper Marlborough, Maryland, in 
1735, he was in the flower of his manhood at this 
time. He developed a vocation early, but the 
rigid anti-Catholic laws of his native province 
prohibiting Catholics from maintaining schools, 
he was sent to the Jesuit College of St. Omer's, 
in Flanders, and then to the house at Liege. He 
surrendered all his property rights to his brothers 
and sisters before his ordination to the priest- 
hood at Liege, in 1759. For twelve years he was 
Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Omer's 
and Liege. For two years he traveled through 
Europe as tutor to a son of Lord Stourton, and 
afterwards was prefect in the college at Bruges, 
having left France at the time of the expuls'on 
of the Jesuits. The Pope suppressed the Soci- 
ety of Jesus, and Father Carroll and the Eng- 
lish-speaking Jesuits retired to England. He 
was chaplain to Lord Arundel until June, 1774, 
and then returned to America, arriving in Mary- 
land June 26th. 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, born in An- 
napolis, Maryland, was two years younger than 
his cousin. Charles was educated in the Jesuit 
colleges at St. Omer's and Rheims, and at the 
colleges of Louis Le Grand, Bourges and Paris. 
He studied law in the Middle Temple, London, 
and returned to Maryland in 1765. In the agi- 
tation that culminated in the revolution he was 
a staunch patriot. 

New York city was in possession of an Amer- 
ican army commanded by General Charles Lee, 
when the two Carrolls, Doctor Franklin and Mr. 
Chase arrived in the city. It was an armed camp, 
and at every strategic point the army was for- 




CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON 



IN OLD NEW YORK 343 

tifying. Writing to his mother from Montreal, 
May 1st, 1776, Father Carroll, referring to New 
York city, said: " When we came to New York, 
it was no more the gay, polite place it used to be 
esteemed, but it was almost a desert, unless for 
the troops. The people were expecting a bom- 
bardment, and had therefore removed themselves 
and their eiFects out of town; on the other side, 
the troops were working at the fortifications 
with the utmost activity. After spending some 
disagreeable days at this place, we proceeded by 
water up to Albany." 

The commissioners embarked on a sloop at 
five o'clock in the afternoon of April 2nd, and 
sailed up the Hudson to Albany. They saw and 
heard the sights and sounds of war, according to 
Charles Carroll's journal, before proceeding 
far. They had sailed thirteen miles up the river. 
"About one o'clock in the night," wrote Mr. 
Carroll, " were awakened by the firing of can- 
non; heard three great guns distinctly from the 
' Asia ' ; soon saw a great fire, which we pre- 
sumed to be a house on Bedloe's Island, set on 
fire by a detachment of our troops. Intelligence 
had been received that the enemy were throwing 
up entrenchments on that island, and it had been 
determined by our generals to drive them off. 
Dr. Franklin went upon deck, and saw waving 
flashes of light appearing suddenly and disap- 
pearing, which he conjectured to be the fire of 
musquetry, although he could not hear the re- 
port." 

Albany was reached on the 7th, after a long 
and fatiguing journey, its hardships increased by 
the snow and ice in the northern wilds. The com- 



344 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

missioners entered Canada April 27th, but they 
arrived too late. The " fourteenth colony " was 
lost. There were one hundred and fifty thousand 
Catholics and three hundred and sixty Prot- 
estants in the province of Quebec, the Church 
had spoken in no uncertain terms, and her 
children had yielded obedience. The Bishop of 
Quebec " forbid his clergy to have any inter- 
course with Father Carroll." Father Pierre 
Rene Floquet, the only Jesuit in Montreal, had 
been kind to the Americans, and he was sus- 
pended. In his defence, presented to Bishop 
Briand, he wrote: " One Father Carroll, a mis- 
sionary from Maryland, having come to Mon- 
treal with two members of Congress, presented 
a letter from Father Farmer, first missionary at 
Philadelphia. The Seminary saw this letter, 
which contained nothing objectionable. Never- 
theless I did not answer it. Father Carroll did 
not lodge with me, and dined with me but once. 
He said Mass in our house by Monsignor Mon- 
golfier's permission." 

The Commissioners met at St. John's May 
12th. The hardships to which Doctor Franklin 
had been exposed at his age — seventy years — 
and the bad prospects of the American cause 
determined him to return to Congress, and 
Father Carroll, hopeless of effecting anything 
with the Canadian clergy, resolved to accom- 
pany him. Their progress to Albany was diffi- 
cult. At that city General Philip Schuyler fur- 
nished them with a private coach, in which they 
continued the journey to New York city. The 
Jesuit tenderly cared for the old philosopher on 
the long, tedious ride of 160 miles, and a warm 



IN OLD NEW YORK 345 

appreciation and friendship was formed. " As 
for myself," wrote Doctor Franklin, in New- 
York, May 27th, " I find I grow daily more 
feeble, and I think I could hardly have got so 
far but for Mr. Carroll's friendly assistance and 
tender care of me." Eight years later, while in 
Passy, France, the following entry was made 
by Doctor Franklin in his diary: "July 1st, 
1784. The Pope's Nuncio called and acquainted 
me that the Pope had, on my recommendation, 
appointed Mr. John Carroll superior of the 
Catholic clergy in America, with many powers 
of bishop ; and that, probably, he would be made 
bishop, in partibus, before the end of the year." 

Concerning this mission of Father Carroll to 
Canada, De Courcy and Shea, in the " History 
of the Catholic Church in America," say: " In 
the extraordinary history of the Society of Jesus, 
the case of this Jesuit, ambassador from a Con- 
gress of Republican Protestants, is not the least 
remarkable episode; and while the democrats of 
every clime reproach the Children of St. Igna- 
tius with being the tools of despotic powder, 
they can offer Father John Carroll as a sin- 
cere patriot, a zealous partisan of liberty, and 
one of the real founders of American indepen- 
dence." 

Washington had assumed command in New 
York city April 14th, and by the end of the 
month there were 8,301 officers and men in the 
city and vicinity, available for duty. The Com- 
mander-in-Chief, on his arrival, made his head- 
quarters in a house on Broadway, but the city 
was unhealthy, and he later removed to the for- 
mer home of Abraham Mortier, or Motier, the 



346 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

British paymaster, a fine Colonial mansion later 
known as " Richmond Hill," now the southwest 
corner of Varick Street and Charlton Street. 
There, no doubt. Doctor Franklin and Father 
Carroll called on him. Charles Carroll's jour- 
nal, June 9th, reads: "Arrived in New York 
at one o'clock p.m. Waited on General Wash- 
ington at Motier's: saw Generals Gates and 
Putnam, and my old acquaintance and friend, 
Mr. Moylan. About six in the evening got 
into General Washington's barge, in company 
with Lord Sterling, and was rowed around by 
Staten Island and the Kilns, within two miles 
of Elizabeth town, where we got by ten at night." 
Among the first patriots who hurried to join 
the army before Boston was Stephen Moy- 
lan, Charles Carroll's friend, a merchant of 
Philadelphia, a native of Ireland and a brother 
of the Catholic Bishop of Cork. He had re- 
ceived a good education in Ireland, had after- 
wards lived for a time in England, came to 
America, and, after traveling extensively, set- 
tled in Philadelphia. Upon the recommendation 
of John Dickinson, he was placed in the com- 
missary department. Washington was greatly 
attracted to the young Irishman, then in his for- 
ty-second year, and in March, 1776, he appointed 
him one of his aides-de-camp. When Mrs. 
Washington joined the General, Moylan en- 
deared himself still more to his chief by his as- 
siduity in providing for the comfort of Mrs. 
Washington. About the time that Carroll and 
Moylan met in New York, the latter, on General 
Washington's recommendation, was appointed 
Quartermaster General by Congress, but the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 347 

Irish blood in Moylan yearned for the firing 
hne, and in the following" October he resigned 
and organized the 4th Light Dragoons of the 
Continental service that became famous in fight, 
song and story as " Moylan's Dragoons." He 
endured with his regiment the suffering of the 
terrible winter of 1777-8 at Valley Forge, cam- 
paigned along the Hudson River and in Con- 
necticut in 1779, and in the following year ac- 
companied Wayne on the Bull's Ferry expedition 
and later took part in the southern campaign. 
He fought to the end of the war and retired with 
the rank of Brigadier General. Moylan was 
one of the founders of the Order of the Cin- 
cinnati and w^as the first President of the So- 
ciety of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of 
Philadelphia. After the war he resumed mer- 
cantile business in Philadelphia, and was for 
several years U. S. Commissioner of Loans. 
He died in Philadelphia in 1811 and was in- 
terred in St. Mary's Churchyard. 

Another member of General Washington's 
military household while in New York was Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Fitzgerald, of Alexandria, 
Virginia. This young Irish Catholic came to 
Alexandria in 1769 or 1770 and, although an 
alien in race and creed, seemed to have been ad- 
mitted to the exclusive social circles of Virginia, 
and was regarded as a rising business man in the 
old Virginia city. He first met Washington at a 
ball, in 1770, given in honor of Washington's 
election to the House of Burgesses. He con- 
ceived an affection for the great Virginian which 
lasted until his death. 

At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, 



348 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Fitzgerald joined Washington at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and was appointed aide-de-camp 
to the general. While not officially named as 
a Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief until 
November, 1776, he assisted his fellow Catholic, 
Colonel Stephen Moylan, who had been ap- 
pointed Secretary to Washington, March 15th, 
1776. 

Fitzgerald was constantly in attendance on his 
chief until 1782, except when on details for mili- 
tary purposes, and was largely instrumental in 
unearthing the Conway cabal against Wash- 
ington. After the war Washington and Fitz- 
gerald maintained their social relations, visiting 
one another frequently, and were associated in 
the Potomac Company, a corporation organized 
to improve the navigation of the Potomac River. 
Colonel Fitzgerald was elected Mayor of Alex- 
andria in 1787, and in 1798 President Adams 
appointed him Collector of the Port of Alex- 
andria. 

His wife was Jane Digges, daughter of Doc- 
tor Digges, of Warburton Manor, on the Mary- 
land side of the Potomac, opposite Mount Ver- 
non, an old Catholic family. Before the erection 
of a Catholic church in Alexandria, Mass was 
offered in Colonel Fitzgerald's house. He died 
in 1800, and was buried in the Catholic cemetery 
in Alexandria. William Hill Lee, a banker, and 
John Fitzgerald Lee, a lawyer, both of St. Louis, 
are his descendants. 

Among the many Frenchmen given commis- 
sions in the American army by Congress in 
1776 a number called on the Commander- 
in-Chief in the Motier house. Those commis- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 349 

sioned in that year were M. Dugan, who served 
in the Canadian campaign; Chevaher De Saint- 
Aulaire, a captain in the same campaign; An- 
toine FeHx Vibert, engineer; Colonel Louis Du- 
bois, Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Antoine De 
Franchessen, Knight of St. Louis; Lieutenant 
Colonel Saint Martin; Brevet Major Jean Ar- 
thur De Vermenet; Fidele Darre; Brevet Cap- 
'tain Jacques Paul Govert; Brevet Major the 
Marquis de Malmady; Chevalier Du Plessis 
Mauduit; Captain Jean Louis Imbert; Major 
Chretien De Colerus. Some of these proved to 
be worthless adventurers, others fought well for 
the cause of liberty. Among those who were in 
the city in February and March was Dohicky 
Arundel, who brought a certificate from the 
military school at Strasburg and two lieutenants' 
commissions from the French King. Richard 
Smith's diary, under date February 5th, 1776, 
records: "The Foreigner whom Dr. Franklin 
and St. Clair- were to examine as to his Profi- 
ciency in the knowledge of Artillery was now 
recommended to General Schuyler for Prefer- 
ment, tho' some members, Paine and Sherman 
in particular, did not approve of employing in 
our Service Foreign Papists." Arundel was 
commissioned a Captain of Artillery. This 
" Foreign Papist " was killed by the bursting 
of a mortar in the battle of Gwyn's Island, Vir- 
ginia, July 19th, 1776. Of him General Charles 
Lee wrote: "His loss is irreparable! He be- 
haved with great spirit and activity, and was 
so hearty in our cause that he is universally 
lamented." 

Another Frenchman in New York in 1776 



350 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was Christophe Pelissier. He was a native of 
Lyons, France, and in Quebec, in 1767, organ- 
ized the Company of St. Maurice Iron Works. 
He was active in the encouragement and aid he 
gave the invading American army during its 
occupation of Three Rivers. On the evacuation 
of that place he went with the Americans to 
St. John and Ticonderoga and acted as engineer 
there for a time. Congress commissioned him 
a Lieutenant- Colonel, and indemnified him for 
his losses. He shortly afterwards returned to 
France. 

The American forces had been increased in 
New York during the summer, and early in Au- 
gust there were 17,225 officers and men in the 
city, only 10,514 of whom were fit for duty. 
Among the regiments from Pennsylvania there 
were two in Mifflin's brigade. Heath's division; 
five in Sterling's brigade, Sullivan's division, 
and one in Nixon's brigade, Greene's division. 
One regiment from Maryland, in Sterling's bri- 
gade, Sullivan's division. There were a number 
of Catholics in the Pennsylvania regiments, and 
the roster of the Maryland regiment contained 
the names of some of the old Catholic families 
of Maryland. 

The first sail of the British fleet passed Sandy 
Hook June 29th. War ship and transport came 
until the lower bay was a forest of masts rising 
from four hundred transports and thirty-seven 
men-of-war, carrying an army of thirty-three 
thousand British regulars and their German 
allies. General Howe landed 15,000 men at 
Gravesend Bay August 22d. Five days later 
the disastrous battle of Long Island began. 



^ IN OLD NEW YORK 351 

The days that followed were busy and trying 
ones for Quartermaster General Stephen Moy- 
lan. His orders were " to impress every kind of 
water craft from Hell Gate on the Sound to 
Spuyten Duyvil Creek that could be kept afloat, 
and that had either sails or oars, and have them 
all in the east harbor of the city by dark." He 
did his work well, and thus saved the army from 
capture and annihilation. In the mist and gloom 
that followed forty-eight hours of August 
downpour the last of the Americans reached 
Manhattan island at four o'clock on the morn- 
ing of August 30th. The British crossed the 
East River September 15th, and under fire of 
the sloops of war drove the Americans from the 
city, meeting but slight resistance. In the Brit- 
ish army that occupied the city were regiments 
of German auxiliaries that contained some 
Catholics. 

A disastrous fire destroyed an extensive sec- 
tion of the city September 21st. It broke out 
around Whitehall Street, destroyed houses along 
parts of Broad, Stone and Beaver Streets and 
Broadway, extending to the streets on the west 
side of Broadway as far north as King's Col- 
lege. Trinity and the Lutheran churches were 
destroyed and St. Paul's narrowly escaped. On 
the day following the fire St. Paul's pulj)it was oc- 
cupied by the Beverend Thomas Lewis O'Bierne, 
Secretary and Chaplain to Admiral Richard 
Howe. O'Beirne was born in Longford, Ire- 
land, in 1748, of a Catholic family of that 
county. He was educated in the Jesuit College 
of St. Omer's. Later he renounced the Faith 
and became a minister of the Church of England. 



352 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

His many accomplishments, literary ability and 
eloquence in the pulpit made him a distinguished 
figure in English society. On his return to 
Europe he went to Ireland, was later raised to 
the peerage and made Bishop of Meath. 

A convention to adopt a constitution for the 
State of New York met in New York city, and 
subsequently in Fishkill, finally, in February, 
1777, assembling in Kingston, Ulster County. 
When the question of religious toleration was 
introduced for consideration, by the reading of 
the paragraph declaring " the free toleration 
of religious profession and worship without 
discrimination and preference shall forever here- 
after be allowed within the State to all man- 
kind," John Jay moved to " except the pro- 
fessors of the religion of the Church of Rome 
until they should take oath that they verily 
believed that no Pope, priest or foreign author- 
ity hath power to absolve the subjects of the 
State from allegiance, and unless they renounce 
the false, wicked and damnable doctrine that 
the Pope has power to absolve men from sins." 
After a protracted debate the amendment was 
rejected by a vote of nineteen to ten, the New 
York County delegation casting eight votes 
against the amendment to two votes in its favor. 
Defeated in this attempt, Jay sought to gain 
his end by the introduction of several ambiguous 
amendments, but the watchfulness of Gouver- 
neur Morris prevented the adoption of any 
amendment that could be construed against his 
Catholic fellow-citizens. The discussion of the 
article relating to naturalization afforded Jay 
another opportunity for a display of bigotry, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 353 

and he offered a proviso that all persons should 
" abjure and renounce all allegiance and sub- 
jection to all and every foreign king, prince, 
potentate and state in all matters ecclesiastic as 
well as civil." The amendment was defeated. 

In the roster of the Anhalt-Zerbst regiment of 
German auxiliaries, that came to New York in 
1777 and was stationed on the Bay Ridge shore 
of Long Island, appears the name of Chaplain 
Backer, a Catholic priest — an indication that 
there were Catholics in that regiment. 

In a fight between an English and French 
frigate in Chesapeake Bay, in February, 1778, 
the French vessel struck her colors and was 
taken to New York. The chaplain, the Abbe De 
la Motte, an Augustinian, was paroled and 
given liberty within the city's limits. The Cath- 
olics, learning of his presence, asked him to cele- 
brate Mass, and he requested permission of the 
commanding officer, but it was refused. His 
slight acquaintance with the English language 
led to his mistaking the refusal for permission. 
He offered the Mass and was arrested and 
closely confined in the Provost prison until ex- 
changed in 1779. This prison afterwards be- 
came the Hall of Records, demolished in 1903. 
Pintard says it was reserved " for the most 
notorious rebels — civil, naval and military. One 
of the rooms was appropriated to officers and 
characters of superior rank, and was called Con- 
gress Hall. So closely were the prisoners packed 
that when they lay down at night to rest (when 
their bones ached) on the hard oak planks, and 
they wished to turn, it was altogether by word 
of command — ' right,' ' left ' — being so wedged 



354 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

as to form almost a solid mass of human bodies." 
After the Revolutionary War the Abbe De la 
Motte ministered for a time to the Catholic In- 
dians of Maine. 

Among the thousands of patriots who suf- 
fered for their country in the British prison hulks 
at the Wallabout was Captain John Walsh. 
John Walsh was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 
1743, and came to Philadelphia in 1767. Prior 
to the Revolutionary War he was a master in the 
merchant marine, and during the war was com- 
missioned master of the letter-of -marque brig- 
antine " Black Prince," six guns, and the Penn- 
sylvania privateer schooner " Dolphin," six 
guns. He was twice captured by the British, 
carried to New York, and confined in the prison 
ships. 

After the war he was in the lumber business 
in Philadelphia, and contributed liberally to 
Catholic churches and charities. His wife was a 
daughter of the patriot Captain Joshua Huddy, 
who was hanged while a prisoner of war near 
Sandy Hook, in 1782. Captain Walsh died in 
Philadelphia, April 24th, 1828. 

Led by the stately flagship " Le Languedoc," 
Count D'Estaing took his fleet inside Sandy 
Hook, July 11th, 1778. His ships were much 
more powerful than the English vessels in New 
York harbor at that time, and it was his desire to 
attack the enemy, but he was dissuaded from it by 
the assurances of the pilots that his larger ships 
drew too much water to safely attempt to pass 
through the channel. Every ship of the fleet 
had one or more Catholic chaplains, and one of 
those on " Le Languedoc " was Father Seraphin 



IN OLD NEW YORK 355 

Bandol, who later, as chaplain to Gerard, the first 
French minister to the United States, conducted 
a Te Deum service in St. Mary's Church, Phila- 
delphia, Sunday, July 4th, 1779, and delivered 
an address appropriate to the occasion that was 
later printed by order of Congress. D'Es- 
taing's fleet had entered New York Bay the day 
following that on which, at Chester, Pennsyl- 
vania, Silas Deane and Gerard had landed from 
France, and Deane had handed to Gerard " the 
turf and twig " as a token of mutual amity and 
assistance between the United States and 
France. 

Defeated at Monmouth and exhausted by 
the hurried march through Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey in the killing heat of early July, 
1778, Clinton's shattered army entered New 
York city. One of its battalions was known 
as the Roman Catholic Volunteers. During its 
stay in these parts this organization was in camp 
at Yellow Hook, on the south shore of Gowanus 
Bay, a section now locally known as South 
Brooklyn. The Roman Catholic Volunteers 
was formed in Philadelphia by Lord Howe 
shortly after he captured that city in 1777. Its 
officers, in 1778, were Lieutenant Colonel Al- 
fred Clifton, Major John Lynch, Captains 
Kenneth McCuUoch, Mathias Hanley, Martin 
McEvoy, Nicholas Wuregan and John McKin- 
non. 

Lieutenants — ^Peter Eck, John Connell, Ed- 
ward Holland, James Hanrahan, Ebenezer 
Wilson and John O'Neil. 

Ensigns — John Grashune, Arthur Bailie, 
Thomas Quinn and Edward Gadwin. 



356 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Quartermaster — John Holland. 

Father "Frederick" (?) Farmer's name ap- 
pears as chaplain. This was evidently intended 
for the pioneer missionary Father Ferdinand 
Farmer, who wrote to a clerical friend in Lon- 
don, March 2nd, 1778: "Perhaps it will please 
you to hear that your British General on arriv- 
ing" here upon my waiting on him, proposed the 
raising of a regiment of Roman Catholick Vol- 
unteers. Mr. Clifton, an English gentleman of 
an Irish mother, is the Lt. Col. and commanding 
of it. They desire me to be their Chaplain which 
embarrasseth me on account of my age and sev- 
eral other reasons." Evidently one of the 
" several other reasons " that embarrassed Father 
Farmer was that his sympathies were on the 
other side, as he took the oath of allegiance to the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the following 
year. Arthur Clifton, the lieutenant colonel 
commanding the Volunteers, was a well-to-do 
and prominent Catholic of Philadelphia. Major 
John Lynch, an intimate friend of Clifton's, 
was also a Catholic. Clifton succeeded in en- 
listing 180 rank and file. His battalion in May 
formed part of an expedition that went up to 
White Hill, near Bordentown, on the Delaware, 
and destroyed " twenty-one or more " American 
vessels, and on the following day was ordered 
across the Delaware for guard duty. Philadel- 
phia was evacuated by the British June 18th, and 
in the march to the north Clifton's Battalion was 
probably attached to Knyphausen's 2nd Corps 
and took part in the battle of Monmouth. While 
the Roman Catholic Volunteers were in camp at 
Yellow Hook the following advertisement ap- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 357 

peared in two issues of the New York Gazette 
and Weekly Mercury: 

" FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ALL 

GENTLEMEN VOLUNTEERS 

WHO ARE WILLING TO SERVE HIS MAJESTY^S REGT 

OF 

ROMAN CATHOLIC VOLUNTEERS 

COMMANDED BY 

LIEUT. COL. COMMANDANT 

ALFRED CLIFTON 

DURING THE PRESENT WANTON AND UNNATURAL 

REBELLION 

AND NO LONGER 

THE SUM OF FOUR POUNDS 

WILL BE GIVEN ABOVE THE USUAL BOUNTY^ 

A SUIT OF NEW CLOATHS 

And every other necessary to complete a Gen- 
tleman Soldier. 
Those who are willing to show their attachment 
to their King and Country by engaging in the 
above regiment will call at Captain McKin- 
non, at No. 51, in Cherry — Street, near 
the Ship Yards, or at Major John 
Lynch, encamped at Yellow Hook, 
where they will receive present 
pay and good quarters. 
N. B. Any person bringing a well bodied loyal 
subject to either of the above places shall 
receive- One Guinea for his trouble. 
God Save the King." 

Two captains of the Volunteers were before 
the General Court Martial in New York city, 
Lieutenant Colonel Ludlow, President, October 



358 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

26th. Captain John McKinnon was dismissed 
from his Majesty's service for " ungentlemanly 
like behavior: 1st, plundering in the Jerseys: 
secondly by suffering himself to be kicked by 
Captain McAvoy of the same Corps on a 
parade without properly resenting it." Captain 
Martin McAvoy was likewise dismissed " for 
plundering in ye Jerseys in taking horse and 
cow & behaving indecently on the parade." 

The effort to bring up the numerical strength 
of the Roman Catholic Volunteers was a failure, 
as it had dwindled to less than eighty men; dis- 
cipline was utterly disregarded, and it was 
merged into Lord Rawdon's Volunteers of Ire- 
land. This regiment contained about 380 Irish- 
men, nearly all said to be deserters from the 
Americans. It did service on the banks of the 
Chesapeake and in Lord Cornwallis' corps in 
the South. It was in the battles of Camden and 
Hobkirk Hill. Through casualties and deser- 
tions it dwindled until,, as the 105th Regiment, 
it was surrendered at Yorktown. 

The French alliance was used by the British 
and Tories to rekindle religious hatred to the 
detriment of the patriot cause. Newspaper and 
pamphlet were filled with ridicule, abuse, threat 
and warning against the French " Papists." 
Doggerel under the title " The American Vicar 
of Bray," published in JRivingtons Gazette, 
June 30th, 1779, was a fair sample: 

" The French Alliance now came forth. 
The Papists flocked in shoals. Sir; 
Frizeur Marquises, Valets of birth. 
And priests to save your souls, Sir. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 359 

Our ' good ally ' with tow'ring wing 
Embraced the flattering hope, Sir, 

That we would own him for our King, 
And then invite the Pope, Sir." 

The French alliance " came forth " a little too 
close for the comfort of the Britons and their 
German and Tory allies, July 22nd, 1781. A 
sleepy picket of dragoons at Kingsbridge saw, 
at daybreak, a sight that amazed and con- 
founded them. On the heights above, as far as 
the eye could see, were the French and Amer- 
ican armies drawn up in line of battle; between 
Kingsbridge and De Lancey's Mills, the Con- 
necticut regiments and the divisions of Major 
Generals Lincoln and Howe, the officers clad in 
the Continental blue and bufl*, the artillery in 
blue with red trimmings, the infantry not regu- 
larly uniformed save some in white-fringed 
casaques. Next came the brilliantly appareled 
French army. The first brigade of Bourbonnais 
in the spotless white of the French infantry with 
scarlet lapels, pink collars and white buttons. 
This regiment, formed in 1595, was ofiicered by 
the Marquis de Laval, colonel; Vicomte de 
Rochambeau, second colonel; M. Gilbert de 
Bressoles, lieutenant colonel, and M. de Gambs, 
major. The Regiment Soissonnais, their white 
coats ornamented with red lapels, sky-blue col- 
lars and yellow buttons. Their considerate colo- 
nel had, because of the excessive heat, equipped 
his men with roomy linen breeches in place of the 
regulation snug-fitting breeches and gaiters. 
The Soissonnais, organized in 1684, had as its 
officers Colonel Comte de Saint-Maime, Second 



360 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Colonel Vicomte de Noailles, Lieutenant Colo- 
nel M. d'Anselme, Major M. Despeyron. The 
Legion of Lauzun, commanded by Armand 
Louis de Gontaut, Due de Lauzun and Due de 
Biron. This French army was commanded by 
the JNIarquis de Chastellux. 

The British and allies awoke to a realization 
of the fact that the upper part of Manhattan 
Island was threatened by a considerable force, 
and volleys of musketry and the guns of fort 
and blockhouse roared defiance to the com- 
manders of the Franco- American army, Gen- 
eral Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte 
de Rochambeau, and General George Washing- 
ton, as they rode down the lines from Kings- 
bridge to De Lancey's ISIills. Some accounts of 
the movement say that the generals crossed the 
Harlem River, but Washington makes no men- 
tion of crossing in his official report. The Brit- 
ish rushed reen for cements to the defenses on the 
island, and from far and near hurried troops to 
New York. The feint of Washington and 
Rochambeau had succeeded. On the morning of 
August 19th, the armies facing New York faced 
to the right about and started on that famous 
march that culminated in the surrender of Corn- 
wallis at Yorktown, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 361 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CONCERNING CATHOLICS AND CATHOLICITY IN 
NEW YORK DURING THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

The preliminary articles of peace between 
England and the United States of America 
reached the latter country in March, 1783, and 
the 25th of that month Congress issued orders 
that hostilities should cease. H. M. ship " Sy- 
bille," 28 guns, Captain James Vashon, was lying 
in New York Bay at the time, and one day she 
was boarded by a stout, jovial- faced man in the 
garb of a captain of the Continental ISTavy. The 
visitor was the distinguished Wexford man, John 
Barry, known to posterity as the " founder of 
the American Navy." He had a peculiar inter- 
est in the " Sybille." In command of the " Alli- 
ance," which was carrying much-needed specie 
from Havana and convoying the " Due de Lau- 
zun," he fell in with the " Sybille," March 10th, 
and a sharp engagement ensued, until the " Sy- 
bille " drew off in a shattered condition. A 
French vessel in sight of the action gave Barry 
no assistance. The entrance to Delaware Bay 
was patrolled by British warships, and Barry 
sailed for Newport. The confirmation of peace 
arrived, and Barry had the distinction of having 
fought the last battle of the Revolutionary War. 



362 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The call on Captain Vaslion was not John 
Barry's first appearance in New York. He was in 
the port in command of a merchantman in early 
September, 1771. The ship " Black Prince " ar- 
rived in Philadelphia, from London, October 
13th, 1775, and its master, John Barry, heard 
that Congress had that day resolved to war with 
England on sea as well as on land. As a begin- 
ning two armed cruisers were to be fitted out, and 
Congress assigned to the enthusiastic young 
patriot the command of the " Lexington," 14) 
guns, the first armed vessel commissioned by the 
Continental Congress. On the southern coast of 
Ireland, in the County Wexford, are the Baronies 
of Forth and Bargy, inhabited by a race of 
sturdy people who, until within two centuries, 
spoke a dialect of mixed Celtic and Saxon, and 
who had lived separate and apart from the people 
surrounding them. They were a thrifty race, and 
none more prosperous in the country. In the 
townland of Ballysampson, parish of Tacum- 
shin, in the Barony of Forth, John Barry was 
born, in 1745. At fifteen years of age he voy- 
aged to Philadelphia. At twenty-one he was 
master of a vessel, and for nine years he com- 
manded craft sailing to and from the West In- 
dies, Liverpool and London. When a man of 
thirty, full of enthusiasm and zeal, he accepted 
a commission from the Continental Congress, 
he became in heart and soul an American patriot, 
ready to rise or fall with his adopted country. 

Shortly after the opening of hostilities. Con- 
gress was flooded with the requests of selfish mer- 
cenaries for commissions, but Barry was as pure, 
unselfish and disinterested a patriot as any native 



IN OLD NEW YORK 363 

American who unsheathed his sword in his coun- 
try's service. In April, 1776, he captured the 
" Edward," the first prize taken into the port of 
Philadelphia. A month later, in the " Lexing- 
ton," he cruised in the lower Delaware, seeking 
and capturing several of the enemy's ships that 
were intercepting vessels from France and the 
West Indies, loaded with supplies for the Amer- 
ican forces. He assumed command of the " Ef- 
fingham," 28 guns, October 18th. The land 
operations demanding brave and intelligent men, 
Barry organized a company of volunteers for the 
operations around Trenton. He was appointed 
an aide-de-camp by Washingon and assisted in 
transporting Washington's army across the Dela- 
ware River on that eventful Christmas night of 
1776. He served as an aide to General Cad- 
wallader, and was appointed Senior Commander 
of the port of Philadelphia. In October, 1777, 
he was again in command of the " Effingham," 
which formed one of a squadron that prevented 
the British from ascending the Delaware to co- 
operate with Donop, the Hessian general, in his 
attack on Bed Bank. The British fleet was too 
powerful to be long opposed, and Barry took 
his squadron to above Burlington. The instruc- 
tions of Washington and the Naval Board to 
Barry to sink his vessels, to prevent their capture 
by the British, was so bitterly opposed by the 
fighting Wexford man that he was reported to 
Congress for " disrespect and ill treatment " of 
Hopkinson, one of the Board. Summoned be- 
fore Congress, then in session at York, he was 
ordered to purge himself of his disrespect. 

In the beginning of 1778, Barry made contin- 



364 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

uoiis war on the British in the Delaware River. 
He was the originator of the plan of floating bar- 
rels of explosives down the river with the design 
of destroying the British fleet at Philadelphia. 
His activity from January to April in capturing 
and destroying the enemy's ships in the Delaware 
and forwarding captured stores for the use of 
Washington's famished army at Valley Forge 
drew from the Commander-in-Chief a letter, in 
which he congratulated Barry " on the success 
which has crowned your gallantry and address in 
the late attack upon the enemy's ships. There is 
ample consolation in the degree of glory you have 
acquired; accept my thanks with my best wishes 
that a suitable recompense may always attend 
your bravery." 

Barry, cruising off Penobscot Bay, September 
26th, in the " Raleigh," was attacked by two 
British frigates of greatly superior armament, 
and, after a gallant defence, was forced to run 
his ship ashore to prevent its falling into the 
hands of the enemy. While in command of the 
letter-of -marque brig " Delaware," of 12 guns, 
February, 1779, he captured the British war ship 
" Harlem " and several merchantmen. A month 
later he was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
superintending the construction of the " Amer- 
ica," and in October, 1780, was assigned to the 
command of the " Alliance," the largest and best 
ship in the Continental Navy, and continued in 
that command until the close of the war, which 
found him a commodore, in command of the 
United States Navy, which had been reduced to 
a fighting force of two ships. 

In the " Alliance " he performed several very 



IN OLD NEW YORK 365 

important commissions and, incidentally, cap- 
tured the " Mars," " Minerva," " Atlanta " and 
" Trepassy," ending the naval history of the war 
by his action with the " Sybille." 

His adopted country not needing his services, 
after peace was proclaimed, he returned to the 
merchant service and voyaged to China. The 
Algerines were troublesome in 1794, and Barry 
offered his services to President Washington, 
and the following year was appointed cap- 
tain number one of the new naval armament. 
He superintended the building of the frigate 
" United States," 44 guns, and in June, 1798, 
served with distinction in the West Indies in 
command of an American fleet in the short war 
with France. 

When the organization of the navy was under 
consideration, Barry suggested the establishment 
of navy yards and the organization of the Navy 
Department. He died, senior officer of the Navy, 
September 13th, 1803, and was interred in St. 
Mary's Churchyard, Philadelphia. 

New York Bay was crowded with war ships 
and transports in the fall of 1783, gathered to 
carry home the defeated British and their Ger- 
man allies. Through these a stately French mer- 
chantman made her way up the harbor, Novem- 
ber 19th. She was the " Coureur I'Europe," the 
first of a line of first-class packets to sail between 
the ports of L'Orient, France, and New York. 
In addition to this ship, the fleet consisted of the 
" Coureur de I'Amerique," " Coureur de New 
York," Coureur de I'Orient " and " L'Alligator." 
The Chevalier d'Abouville, a relative of the com- 
mander of Rochambeau's artillery, was the cap- 



366 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

tain of the " Coureur de I'Amerique." The of- 
fice of the line was at No. 215 Water Street. 
Jean Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Consul 
General of France for New York, Connecticut 
and New Jersey, and destined to take a conspicu- 
ous part in the establishment of the first Catholic 
church in the city, was its agent, and William 
Seton, related by marriage to one who has made 
the name world famous in Church annals, was 
deputy agent. Four days after the arrival of 
the first French liner, the British flag was torn 
from the flagstaff at the Battery and the last 
boatload of redcoats rowed down the bay. 

After the departure of the British, the men 
made illustrious by the war flocked to New York, 
and, notwithstanding the poverty-stricken condi- 
tion of the people after the long and costly strug- 
gle, the social side of life was not entirely 
neglected. Cape's, or the City Tavern, a big 
frame building on the west side of Broadway, be- 
tween Thames and Cedar streets, was crowded 
with distinguished soldiers and civilians, Decem- 
ber 1st, assembled by invitation of Governor 
George Clinton, at a dinner in honor of the 
French minister, M. de la Luzerne. M. Barbe 
Marbois, the French Charge d' Affaires, and 
Father Seraphin Bandol, the chaplain of the 
French legation, were doubtless present. M. La 
Luzerne could converse with his host and the 
guests in their mother tongue, and for this he 
was indebted to the Jesuit Father Molyneux, who 
had taught him English in Philadelphia. Wash- 
ington was at the table, and, during the dinner, a 
letter from Sir Henry Clinton, then on board the 
" Ceres," off Staten Island, was handed him, in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 367 

which the British commander announced the ar- 
rival of the frigate " Asted," with twenty trans- 
ports, in which he hoped to embark the troops and 
sail from the bay three days later. 

M. Fran9ois de Barbe Marbois, afterwards 
Marquis de Marbois, born in Metz, in 1745, 
came to America with Luzerne in 1779 as Secre- 
tary of Legation. When Luzerne returned to 
France Marbois became Charge d' Affaires, and 
held that post for six years, leaving New York 
in 1785 to become Intendant of Hispaniola. 
While stationed in Philadelphia he married Miss 
Moore, the daughter of a distinguished citizen of 
the Quaker city, the Abbe Bandol officiating 
in the Legation chapel in the morning, and Par- 
son White performing a like service in the home 
of the bride's parents in the evening. During 
the summer of 1785 the couple occupied a sum- 
mer home on Long Island. Marbois held many 
important offices under Bonaparte. A daughter, 
born in New York, was married to the Duke of 
Plaisance, son of Le Brun, one of Bonaparte's 
colleagues in the Consulate. Marbois wrote a 
" History of Louisiana " and the " Treason of 
Benedict Arnold." 

Father Farmer was in the city in 1783, and it 
must have rejoiced his heart to walk its streets 
without concealment of his sacred office. The 
following year, 1784, the infamous law of 1700 
against " Popish priests and Jesuits " was re- 
pealed by express act of the State Legislature. 
Father Farmer had extended his ministrations 
as far as Peekskill-on-the-Hudson. Mass was 
said by him, when in the city, in 1784, in a house 
in Water Street and in the Vauxhall Gardens, 



368 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

on Greenwich Street, between Warren and 
Chambers streets. He had eighteen communi- 
cants. The patriot. Father John Carroll, was 
appointed Vicar Apostolic, or Superior of the 
American Missions, June 9th, and ten days later 
Cardinal Antonelli notified Bishop James Tal- 
bot, Vicar Apostolic of the London district, that 
his jurisdiction over the American-English colo- 
nies had been abolished. 

The French packet " Coureur de New York," 
which arrived in the port August 4th, had as a 
passenger the illustrious patriot, General Marie, 
Jean, Paul, Roch, Yves, Gilbert JNIotier, Mar- 
quis de Lafayette. The freedom of the city was 
conferred on the distinguished visitor September 
14th. Congress removed to New York city De- 
cember 23rd, 1784, and the city became the cap- 
ital of the new-born nation. 

The Reverend Charles Whelan, an Irish Ca- 
puchin, who was said to have served as chaplain 
of a vessel in the fleet of Admiral De Grasse, 
arrived in the city, in October, from Ireland. 
He acted as chaplain to a Catholic Portuguese 
merchant, Jose Roiz Silva, until the little band 
of Catholics invited him to minister to them. 
Father Whelan had in his possession proper ec- 
clesiastical recommendations, but no approbation 
from the Congregation of the Propaganda, with- 
out which the Superior of the Missions could not 
grant him faculties. He was authorized to offer 
Masses, but had no power to hear confessions or 
celebrate marriages. Relying on his Irish facul- 
ties, he both heard confessions and performed 
marriage ceremonies, despite the protests of 
Father Farmer, acting as the Superior's vicar. 




MOST REVEREND JOHN CARROLL 



IN OLD NEW YORK 369 

The following year a rescript from Rome 
enabled the Superior to regulate Father Whe- 
lan's standing. Father Whelan was a good, 
zealous priest, but a poor preacher, and the few 
Catholics of New York, through communica- 
tion with the sects, had adopted their preaching 
test as proper to apply to the judgment of a 
priest's fitness. Father Farmer tells Father Car- 
roll of this difficulty in a letter, February 21st, 
1785. " Scarce had I arrived there " (in New 
York) , he wrote, " when an Irish Merchant paid 
me a visit and asked me if Mr. Whelan was set- 
tled over them. My answer, as far as I can re- 
member, was that he had only power to perform 
parochial duties ; but if the congregation did not 
like him, and could better themselves, they were 
not obliged to keep him. Some days after, 
another, seeing Mr. Whelan's endeavors to settle 
himself there, as it were, in spite of them, de- 
clared to me he had a mind to apply to the Legis- 
lature for a law that no clergyman should be 
forced upon them, which he thought he could eas- 
ily obtain. I endeavored to reconcile them by 
telling Mr. Whelan to make himself agreeable 
to his countrymen, and by telling these to be con- 
tented with what they had at present for fear of 
worse." In a letter of Father Valiniere's to 
Father Carroll, written December 27th, 1785, he 
refers to a Father McReady as associated with 
Father Whelan at that time. 

The French Embassy was transferred to New 
York and located in the McComb Mansion, on 
Broadway, near Bowling Green. A chapel was 
fitted up, and the chaplain, probably Father 
Seraphin Bandol, officiated, for a time, in both 



370 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the French and Spanish embassies, but there is 
no record of his having ministered -elsewhere in 
the city. 

Don Diego de Gardoqui had been appointed 
Encargado de Negocias, practically minister to 
the United States, by Spain, and his official resi- 
dence was in the, at that day, imposing Kennedy 
mansion, No. 1 Broadway. The special object 
of his mission to the United States was to carry 
on negotiations with the American government 
concerning the rights of both nations on the Mis- 
sissippi River. Don Diego became " exceedingly 
popular " during his four years' stay in New 
York. 

The founder of a family famous in the annals 
of New York, Dominick Lynch, with his wife 
and three children, arrived in the city this year. 
He was of the firm of Lynch and Stoughton, 
whose place of business was at 41 and 42 Little 
Dock Street, now Water Street, between White- 
hall Street and Old Slip. 

Despite his sixty-five years, most of them years 
of unremitting toil and hardship, the saintly 
Father Farmer, fit subject at that time for a sick 
bed, was in the city in May. He baptized, while 
in New York, Catherine, the child of William 
and Wilhelmina Byron. Without consulting the 
ecclesiastical authorities. Hector St. John de 
Crevecoeur, Jose Roiz Silva, James Stewart and 
Henry Duttin were incorporated by an act of 
the Legislature, June 10th, under the title " The 
Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church in the 
City of New York." Crevecoeur, who, it will be 
recalled, was the French Consul General, was 
born in Caen, Normandy, of a noble family, in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 371 

1731. He was educated in England, and came to 
America in his twenty-third year, and served for 
a time as an engineer officer in the French army 
in Canada. He bought a tract of land near New 
York and married an American. During the 
Revolutionary War his property was ravaged by 
both armies. In 1780 his affairs necessitated his 
presence in Europe, and he obtained permission 
to enter the British lines to embark in New York 
city, but the appearance of a French fleet off the 
coast led to the suspicion that he was a spy, and 
for three months he was a prisoner in one of the 
loathsome British prisons in New York. Two 
prominent merchants became security for him, 
and, sailing for Dublin, he reached France in 
1782. He was appointed French Consul Gen- 
eral for New York, New Jersey and Connecti- 
cut, and on reaching New York city, in Novem- 
ber, 1783, learned that his house had been burned 
and his property ravaged by savages. His wife 
had died several weeks before this misfortune, 
and Crevecoeur could learn nothing, for some 
time, of the fate of his children. They had been 
rescued by an English merchant at great risk 
and, to the joy of Crevecoeur, were restored to 
him unharmed. Crevecoeur wrote " Letters 
d'un Cultivateur Americain," published in 1784 ; 
" La Culture des pommes de terre " and " Voy- 
age dans la haute Pennsylvanie et dans I'etat de 
New York," published in Paris in 1801. Creve- 
coeur, although instrumental in establishing the 
first Catholic church in New York, was not re- 
garded as an exemplary Catholic. He was, 
probably, tainted with that atheism so prevalent 
in France at that day which made so many 



372 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Frenchmen Catholics in name only. Crevecoeur 
died in Sarcelle, near Paris, in his eighty-second 
year. 

Jose Doiz Silva, a Portuguese, was one of the 
wealthiest and most prominent merchants in the 
city. His places of business were No. 1 Beek- 
man Street and at Cruger's Wharf, corner of 
Old Slip. He dealt in cotton, wines, hides, in- 
digo, salt and Mediterranean produce. He was 
the owner of a schooner named the " George 
Washington," and was consignee of a famous 
Portuguese ship, the " Notre Senora de Patro- 
simo," in the New York trade. He was married 
to Anna Dumont, a widow, living at No. 12 
Dock Street, in 1795, by Father O'Brien, in 
St. Peter's Church, the bride having become a 
Catholic prior to the wedding. They occupied a 
fine home. No. 9 Beaver Street, and later moved 
to No. 28 William Street. He removed his busi- 
ness from No. 1 Beekman Street to No. 79 Front 
Street. Scoville says, in his " Old Merchants of 
New York," concerning Silva, " he would have 
become one of the richest merchants in any coun- 
try," but died during the yellow fever scourge of 
1798. Despite the promising business future 
predicted for him, so little was realized when the 
estate was liquidated that his widow, who had 
children by both unions, was forced, for support, 
to open a boarding house at No. 132 Greenwich 
Street. 

Crevecoeur applied to the city authorities for 
permission to hold Catholic services in the Ex- 
change, an ancient building across the foot of 
Broad Street, in a line with Water Street, occu- 
pied as a court house, but consent was refused. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 373 

Its arches were a favorite stand for itinerant 
preachers. During the summer Father Whelan, 
acting- on Mr. Silva's advice, bought a lease of 
five lots, owned by the Trinity corporation, at 
Barclay and Church streets. A carpenter shop 
on the plot was fitted up for divine service. The 
collection of funds for the erection of the church 
was carried on during the summer, and, Septem- 
ber 20th, a letter was written by Dominick Lynch 
to the Very Reverend Warden Augustine Kir- 
wan, of Galway, Ireland, enclosing a petition to 
" all Worthy & Pious Christians of the Town 
and County of Galway," asking for contribu- 
tions towards the erection of a church edifice. 
The petition was signed by " Dom Lynch, Jose 
Roiz Silva, Dennis McKeady, Henry Duttin, 
Andw. Morris and Gibben Bourk." 

Wednesday, October 5th, 1785, between the 
hours of eleven o'clock and midday, at the corner 
of Barclay and Church streets, in the presence of 
a crowd of spectators, Don Diego de Gardoqui 
laid the corner stone of the first Catholic church 
in New York city — St. Peter's. The building 
was to be of brick, forty-eight feet front by 
eighty-one feet in depth. Specimens of the coin- 
age of Spain were deposited in the corner stone. 
Petitions, asking for aid, were sent to the Kings 
of Spain and France, and in the following year 
King Charles IV of Spain sent a contribution 
of $1,000. Work was suspended until funds had 
been collected, and not until May and June, 1786, 
were advertisements inserted in the newspapers 
calling for bids from masons and carpenters. 

The French and Canadians in the city were 
ministered to by Father Pierre Huet de la Valin- 



374 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

iere, a zealous priest, but a man of erratic char- 
acter. He had prepared a French and English 
catechism for his charges, and urged on Fran- 
9ois de Barbe Marbois, acting French minister, 
the project of securing aid from the French gov- 
ernment to enable him to purchase a disused 
Protestant church for his congregation, but 
Barbe Marbois, knowing something about his ec- 
centricities, discouraged the project. Governor 
Haldimand, of Canada, had written to Lord 
North in 1783: " The Jesuits are the only order 
of regular priests who have shown an attachment 
to the rebels during the course of the war," but 
the same writer called the Sulpitian Father Pierre 
Huet de la Valiniere " a perfect rebel in his 
heart." Father Valiniere was born in Varade, 
France, January 10th, 1732, and educated at the 
College of Nantes, the Grand Seminary and 
Seminary of St. Sulpice. He asked for the Can- 
adian mission, and arrived in Montreal in Sep- 
tember, 1754, and was ordained a Sulpitian priest 
the following year in that city by Bishop Pont- 
briand. From the time of his ordination until 
1779 he seems to have been stationed in many 
Canadian parishes. Although he protested his 
innocence of any friendly relations with the in- 
vading Americans, in 1775, he was seriously com- 
promised in the opinions of Bishop Briand, Vicar 
General Montgolfier and General Guy Carleton. 
The Vicar-General regarded Father Valiniere 
" as the most guilty and the least converted " of 
the Canadian priests in their relations with the 
invaders, and said of him: " He is thoroughly 
self-willed, and although of good morals, he 
would infallibl}^ cause us some trouble." At the 



IN OLD NEW YORK . 375 

time of the Franco- American alliance French 
Canadian sympathies veered towards the Amer- 
icans, and such men as Father Valiniere were 
deemed too dangerous to be at large. Governor 
Haldimand had him arrested and deported. 
Held a prisoner for a year on shipboard, he was 
reported to have died of fever on board the 
" Lenox," at Cork, Ireland, in 1780. The re- 
ported death was incorrect. He was liberated, 
and, sailing for France, was shipwrecked, losing 
the little means he possessed. The Sulpitians, his 
erratic character having preceded him, received 
him coldly, but gave him shelter in their house at 
Nantes. He sailed for Martinique, and voyaged 
from there to Newburyport, Massachusetts, pro- 
ceeding by foot to Montreal, where he arrived in 
June, 1785. He was not wanted in Canada, and 
the Bishop of Quebec gave him a " favorable 
letter " to the Superior of Missions, Father Car- 
roll. He presented his letter to Father Carroll 
in Philadelphia, but his request for faculties to 
minister to the French and Canadians was re- 
fused because of the rule of the Propaganda. 
While in New York, he petitioned Congress for 
recompense for some losses he had sustained, and 
asked employment in the western territory. In 
the fall of 1785 he visited Newburgh, and later 
was in New York, preaching to the French, 
whom he assembled in his house. Father Carroll, 
in a letter to the trustees of St. Peter's Church, 
January 25th, 1786, in reference to him, wrote: 
"... I must add for M. La Valiniere's credit, 
that when I declined granting him leave to ad- 
minister the Sacraments to the Canadian ref- 
ugees, it was for the reason, because I had no 



376 . CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

power to do it. Otherwise I have such a convic- 
tion of his many quahties that I should gladly 
have indulged the wishes of those good people 
who solicited, and of this I beg to inform him." 
Louis G. Otto, the French Charge d'Affaires, 
wrote to Count Vergennes about the same time: 
" M. de la Valiniere assembles the French who 
are in his house. He preaches regularly to them 
every Sunday, and he assures me he is persuaded 
that if there were a French church here, it would, 
without doubt, attract a great number of his 
countrymen." In February, Father Farmer 
transmitted to Father Valiniere " powers to per- 
form parochialia, without restrictions to the 
French." 

Disappointed in his efforts to secure permis- 
sion and assistance to purchase the disused Prot- 
estant church. Father Valiniere left New York 
in the spring of 1786, and after a brief rest in 
Philadelphia, walked to Pittsburgh and, descend- 
ing the Ohio River in a batteau, made his way to 
Kaskaskia, where he became pastor and Vicar 
General. He served at various missions in the 
western wilderness, but his eccentricities and his 
propensity to wander prevented his remaining 
long in one place. In an autobiographical sketch 
he wrote : " I go wandering throughout all 
America, through New York and Boston, I 
travel by every dangerous route, I visit nearly 
every district. I start again from Pennsylvania 
and arrive at Fort Pitt. I sail all the way down 
the Ohio, the Kentucky and the Mississippi, with- 
out any sleep, traveling on foot or in a canoe. 
Five times I cross the Gulf of Mexico and try to 
return to Canada. Havana, Spanish Florida, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 377 

Charlestown [Charleston, S. C], Stonington and 
New York offer me nothing new." He ob- 
tained, in 1798, the long desired permission to 
return to Canada, and passed the closing days of 
his life in the parish of St. Sulpice, subsisting on 
a pension of £25, granted him by the Seminary. 
He was injured by falling from a carriage on a 
stone, and died at St. Sulpice, June 29th, 1806, 
in his seventy- fourth year. 

In a letter to the Reverend Charles Plowden, 
written b}^ Father Carroll, December 15th, 1785, 
he said of the Church and pastor in New York: 
" The congregation in New York, begun by the 
venerable Mr. Farmer, of Philadelphia, he has 
now ceded to an Irish Capuchin resident there. 
The prospect at that place is pleasing on the 
whole. The Capuchin is a zealous, pious, and, I 
think, humble man. He is not, indeed, so learned 
or so good a preacher as I could wish, which mor- 
tifies his congregation ; as at New York and most 
other places in America the different sectaries 
have scarce any other test to judge of a clergy- 
man than his talents for preaching, and our Irish 
congregation, such as New York, follow the same 
rule." 

It was not long after this letter was written 
that the prospect in New York ceased to be 
" pleasing." In their desire for a good preacher, 
the New Yorkers negotiated with Father Jones, 
a Franciscan, at Cork, Ireland, but he declined 
their invitation. Another Franciscan, Father 
Andrew Nugent, arrived in New York in the lat- 
ter part of 1785, and the congregation, learning 
that he was a better preacher than Father 
Whelan, immediately began an agitation for the 



378 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

removal of that zealous pastor. In a letter to 
Father Carroll, March 6th, 1786, Father Farmer 
said: "What to me is the greatest difficulty in 
the appointment of Father Nugent, is the arbi- 
trary and ungenerous manner in which he forced 
Father Whelan to depart, who, though he was 
not very learned, yet he was ready to ask and 
take advice, which I believe is not the quality of 
the former. The second is they who took upon 
them to be trustees (at least some of them) have 
the principle that they can choose for themselves 
whom they please, whether approved by the Su- 
perior or not, as I formerly heard they said, and 
now the fact proves. The principle is of the most 
pernicious consequences, and must be contra- 
dicted." 

Despite the disapproval of the spiritual au- 
thorities, the negotiations between Father Nu- 
gent and the trustees continued, and, April 13th, 
Father Farmer wrote to the Superior: " The 
Trustees at New York offered Mr. Nugent, for 
his yearly salary, three hundred dollars, the Sun- 
day collections included; but he demanded four 
hundred, upon which they declared to him if he 
was not satisfied he had liberty to depart and 
welcome." 

Father Nugent, at this time, lived at No. 1 
Hunter's Quay. Father John O'Connell, Vicar 
of the Hospital of Irish Dominicans, at Bilbao, 
Spain, arrived in New York, May 17th. He had 
been selected to be chaplain of the Spanish Em- 
bassy. The Bishop of Corinth, Papal Nuncio to 
the Court of Spain, granted him ordinary facul- 
ties of a missionary on the King's request. 
Father O'Connell, the first of the Irish Domin- 




ST. PETER S OLD CHURCH 



IN OLD NEW YORK 379 

icans to serve in New York, remained in the 
city until late in 1789. He did some missionary 
work among the people. 

Notwithstanding the unpleasant relations ex- 
isting between Superior, pastor and people, No- 
vember 4th, 1786, was a joyous day for the two 
hundred Catholics in New York city. On that 
day, the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, the 
church edifice was sufficiently far advanced to 
hold divine service therein. High Mass was sol- 
emnized by Father Andrew Nugent, assisted by 
the chaplains of the French and Spanish embas- 
sies, followed by a sermon. After the services 
the Spanish minister, Don Diego Gardoqui, en- 
tertained, at a dinner in the Embassy, all the men 
of note in the city. 

Louis Stephen Le Couteulx De Caumont and 
his wife, a niece of General Toussard, a French 
officer who had served under Lafayette in the 
Revolutionary War, arrived in the city Decem- 
ber 15th. De Caumont went to Pennsylvania the 
following year, and settled on a tract of two hun- 
dred acres he had purchased in Buck's County, 
in that state. In 1798 he went to Albany, N. Y., 
and was one of the founders of St. Mary's 
Church. Removing to Buffalo in 1804, he re- 
mained in that city, and died there in 1839. He 
deeded to Bishop Dubois, in 1828, the site of the 
first Catholic church in Buffalo. 

After twenty-eight years of unremitting labor 
and hardship in America, the Apostle of Cath- 
olicity in New Jersey and New York, Father 
Farmer, died, in Philadelphia, August 17th, 
1786, in his sixty-sixth year. 

Father Charles Whelan, the first pastor of St. 



380 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Peter's, " a priest of irreproachable life and de- 
voted to his calling-," disheartened by his treat- 
ment, left New York and retired to his brother's 
home in Johnstown, N. Y. Later he found a 
home with the Jesuits in New Town, Maryland. 
While there he received a call, in 1787, from 
Father Carroll, to proceed to Kentucky, then a 
wilderness. He traveled with a party of Cath- 
olic colonizers through a savage-infested region 
to the scene of his labors. Of him Archbishop 
Martin J. Spalding wrote: "He laboured day 
and night, preaching, catechizing, administering 
the sacraments, and making himself ' all to all in 
order to gain all ' to Christ. He was assiduous 
in the discharge of his duties. He was never 
known to miss an appointment, no matter how 
inclement the season or how greatly he had been 
exhausted by previous labours. Often was he 
known to swim rivers, even in the dead of winter, 
in order to reach a distant station on the ap- 
pointed day. On these occasions the vestments. 
Missal and ornaments of the altar, which he was 
compelled to carry with him, were immersed in 
the water; and he was under the necessity of de- 
laying divine service until they could be dried at 
the fire." " He preached," wrote Archbishop 
Spalding, " with a warmth and eloquence not un- 
common to his countrymen." His parish was the 
region west of the Allegheny Mountains and 
south of the French missions on the Wabash and 
Mississippi. At the time of his going to Ken- 
tucky six of the well-to-do Catholics had bound 
themselves to pay him, annually, $280 for his 
support. Shortly after his arrival, two of these 
men sought to have this written contract set aside 



IN OLD NEW YORK 381 

by the court as illegal, but failed. Father 
Whelan expressed his opinion of their conduct, 
and, as a consequence, they sued him for slander. 
The jury brought in a verdict of £500 fine and 
imprisonment until paid. As he was about to be 
incarcerated one of his prosecutors offered bail, 
and it was accepted. Discouraged by this ex- 
perience. Father Whelan left Kentucky in the 
spring of 1790, and returned to Maryland, by 
way of New Orleans. He was stationed on the 
eastern shore, where he labored zealously in St. 
Mary's and its outlying stations until his death, 
March 21st, 1806. 

The congregation of St. Peter's, in April, 
1787, for the first time, elected its board of trus- 
tees, and these trustees were incorporated as 
" The Trustees for the Roman Catholic Congre- 
gation of St. Peter's Church in the City of New 
York in America." 

St. Peter's trustees and congregation were not 
long in discovering that in Father Andrew Nu- 
gent they had a " wolf in sheep's clothing." They 
appealed to the Very Reverend Prefect Carroll 
to deliver them from the priest they had forced 
him to accept. Doctor Carroll had learned that 
Father Nugent had been suspended in Dublin, 
and the serious charges made against him by the 
New Yorkers brought the prefect to New York 
in October, 1787. The serious condition of af- 
fairs there detained him in the city for two 
months. Father Carroll withdrew Father Nu- 
gent's faculties and appointed as pastor the Rev- 
erend William O'Brien, a Dominican, who had 
labored for sixteen years in the Dublin Archdio- 
cese, and had come to America with a letter of 



382 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

commendation from the Archbishop of that See. 
Prior to his appointment to St. Peter's, he had 
done parochial work in Philadelphia and New 
Jersey. The appointment of Father O'Brien 
brought matters to a crisis and precipitated a de- 
plorable scandal. Father Nugent refused to 
surrender his pastorate. The Very Reverend 
Prefect had entered the sanctuary to begin Mass 
in St. Peter's, on Sunday, before a large congre- 
gation, when Father Nugent interfered, asserted 
his right to say the parochial Mass, and posi- 
tively refused to permit Doctor Carroll to of- 
ficiate until he had promised to make no personal 
allusion to him in addressing the people. Doctor 
Carroll refused to make any such agreement and 
expressed his intention to warn the people of 
whom they should beware and to whom they 
should resort for spiritual assistance. Father 
Nugent, turning to the congregation, gave utter- 
ance to a " violent tirade," which produced a most 
unseemly uproar and confusion. 

When he had finished, the Very Reverend Pre- 
fect announced that Father Nugent, to whom he 
had granted only temporary faculties, was sus- 
pended from every exercise of the priesthood, 
and he warned the people against attending any 
Mass that the silenced priest might attempt to 
say. Most of the congregation retired quietly 
from the church, and Doctor Carroll said mass in 
the private chapel of the Spanish Embassy, No. 
1 Broadway. A few remained, and Father Nu- 
gent said Mass. Doctor Carroll published an ad- 
dress, the following week, in reply to the declara- 
tion of Father Nugent's adherents that the 
Prefect Apostolic had no authority to suspend 



IN OLD NEW YORK 383 

Father Nugent. The trustees, hoping to bar out 
the suspended priest and his friends, changed the 
locks on the church doors, and it was arranged 
that Doctor Carroll should, on the following 
Sunday, instruct the people on the " nature and 
source of spiritual authority." The malcontents 
forced the doors and filled the church with a rab- 
ble that raised such an uproar that the Prefect 
could not be heard, and was forced to withdraw. 
The chapel of the Spanish Embassy again ac- 
commodated the worshipers, the Prefect advis- 
ing against the desire of the trustees to clear the 
church of the rabble. The law was then invoked. 
In treating of the administration of church prop- 
erty, the law provided it was not intended to af- 
fect in any way the rights of conscience, or of 
private judgment, or to make any change what- 
soever in the religious constitution or government 
of any church, congregation or society, in so far 
as it related to their doctrine, discipline or wor- 
ship. Father Nugent had not only resisted au- 
thority, but had taught in opposition to Catholic 
doctrine. In the proceedings instituted against 
him under the foregoing law he was convicted 
and ousted from St. Peter's. He hired a house, 
and for a time sacrilegiously said mass for his 
misguided followers. In 1790 he appealed to the 
trustees of St. Peter's for aid, and they sub- 
scribed an amount sufficient to pay his passage 
to France on the ship " La Telemaque." 

A short time after his appointment, Father 
William O'Brien, impelled by the pressing need 
of funds with which to complete St. Peter's, vis- 
ited Mexico, and his appeal to the Mexican 
brethren met with a response that should never 



384 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

be forgotten by New York Catholics. Father 
O'Brien had been a fellow student of Don 
Alonzo Nunez de Haro, Archbishop of Mexico, 
at Bologna. In this Archdiocese Father O'Brien 
collected $4,920, and received a further donation 
of $1,000 from the bishop and chapter of Puebla 
de Los Angeles. He was also presented with 
several valuable paintings for the adornment of 
the church. 

The Reverend Manasseh Cutler, a Revolution- 
ary patriot, scientist and noted New England 
divine, records having met at dinner, at General 
Knox's, Michael Eustace Gaspard, Marquis de 
Lotbiniere. Of him Mr. Cutler wrote: "No 
person at the table attracted my attention more 
than the Marquis Lotbiniere — not on account of 
his good sense, for if it had not been for his title 
I should have thought him two-thirds a fool." 
Mr. Cutler undoubtedly allowed a New England 
Congregationalist's prejudice against a French 
Canadian Catholic to warp his judgment. It 
was not Lotbiniere's title, but his brain, that 
saved him from being " two-thirds a fool." The 
Marquis was one of the most distinguished and 
able military engineers of New France. Born in 
Canada, in 1723, he embraced the military pro- 
fession, and at thirty years of age was appointed 
Engineer of New France. He built Fort Caril- 
lon (Ticonderoga) as a barrier to English in- 
vasion, and, in 1758, contributed more to the 
famous victory over the English at Carillon than 
any other officer. For this and other services he 
was made a Chevalier of St. Louis and a Mar- 
quis. He was a great landowner and one of the 
few of the Canadian " noblesse " who favored 



IN OLD NEW YORK 385 

America in her struggle for independence. He 
went to France and labored zealously for the col- 
onists, and, in the summer of 1776, was sent by 
the French government on a secret mission to 
America. His son. Captain Chartier de Lotbini- 
ere, it will be recalled, a British loyalist, had been 
captured by the Americans at Chambly, and was 
a prisoner at Bristol, Pennsylvania. During the 
war the Marquis wrote letters to Franklin and 
others, advising them concerning the conduct of 
military operations. The British government de- 
prived him of some of his domains, and he spent 
some time in London endeavoring to have his 
property restored. He died in New York, in 
1799, during a yellow fever epidemic. 

The State Legislature, in 1787, amended the 
Charter of 1754, granted to King's College, 
changed the name to Columbia College, made it 
non-sectarian, and appointed a board of trustees. 
What a shock it would be to its anti- Catholic 
founders to learn that a sufficient number of 
Catholic students are on its roll at the present 
day to operate successfully a Catholic student's 
club. 

A young German priest. Father Laurence 
Graessel, landed in New York from a ship, in 
October, and proceeded to Philadelphia. He 
labored with the zeal of an Apostle, covering 
much of the region traversed by his countryman. 
Father Farmer. To his dismay, he was selected 
as first Coadjutor Bishop of Baltimore, in 1793, 
but the hardship of missionary life in the new 
world had been too severe for his constitution, and 
he died before his consecration. The Abbe Sera- 
phin Bandol, after a stay of ten years in Amer- 



386 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

ica, during most of which he had been chaplain 
to the French Embassy, sailed for France in 
1788. 

In January, Eleonore Francois Elie, Mar- 
quis de Moustier, Lieutenant-General, and re- 
cently appointed French Minister to the United 
States, arrived at New York in His Most Christ- 
ian Majesty's forty-gun ship " D 'Aigrette." He 
was accompanied by his sister, the Marquise de 
Brehon, her son and several other members of his 
family. In September the Marquis and Mar- 
quise traveled up the Hudson and across country 
to Fort Stanwix to attend a treaty making be- 
tween the Indian tribes and a State Commission, 
headed by Governor Clinton, for a cession of 
territory by the Indians, extending from Fort 
Stanwix to the Great Lakes. Of the Marquise, 
Elkanah Watson says: " This enterprising and 
courageous lady had exposed herself to the great- 
est fatigues and privations, to gratify her un- 
bounded curiosity, by coming all the way from 
the City of New York, to witness the great and 
unusual assemblage of savage tribes." De Mous- 
tier and his sister were the guests of General 
Washington at Mount Vernon in November, and 
while there the Marquise painted a miniature of 
Washington that was engraved in France. That 
the Moustier s were not at all popular in New 
York is manifest from the correspondence of the 
day. Mrs. William A. Smith, a daughter of 
John Adams, met the French Minister and his 
sister. Of De Moustier she wrote: " The French 
Minister is a handsome and apparently polite 
man; the Marchioness, his sister, the oddest fig- 
ure eyes ever beheld; in short, there is so much 



IN OLD NEW YORK 387 

said of and about her, and so little of truth 
can be known, that I cannot pretend to form any 
judgment. . . . She speaks English a little, is 
very much out of health, and was taken ill at 
Mrs. Jay's before we went to dinner, and obliged 
to go home." John Armstrong wrote concern- 
ing her: " We have a French minister now with 
us, and if France had wished to destroy the little 
remembrance that is left of her and of her exer- 
tions in our behalf, she would have sent just such 
a minister; distant, haughty, penurious and en- 
tirely governed by the caprices of a singular, 
whimsical, hysterical old woman, whose delight 
is playing with a negro child and caressing a 
monkey." 

De Moustier was possessed of a considerable 
fortune, and, if " penurious," was fond of dis- 
play. None of the foreign ministers entertained 
more frequently or lavishly. Brissot de War- 
ville, who was in New York at the time, said that 
he had heard De Moustier boast that he had told 
President Griffin, of Congress, that " he was but 
a tavern-keeper, and the Americans had the com- 
placency not to demand his recall." The con- 
tempt of De Moustier for Americans was fully 
equaled by their contempt for him. He was 
born in Paris thirty-seven years before his ar- 
rival in New York. Carefully educated in things 
military and scientific, he was appointed Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary to England in 1783, re- 
turning to France in 1789. He served as 
Ambassador to Prussia and Minister to Con- 
stantinople. During the French revolution he 
labored in France for the Bourbons, and some of 
his letters, falling into the hands of the Jacobins, 



388 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

were used in the accusations against Louis XVI. 
After a sojourn in England he returned to Paris, 
and in 1806 was driven from France by Bona- 
parte. He shared the fortunes of Louis XVIII 
in England, and, returning to France, died in his 
country house, near Versailles, in 1817. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 389 



CHAPTER XIX 

CONCERNING CATHOLICS AND CATHOLICITY IN 
THE CITY FROM THE DAWN OF THE NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY UNTIL THE ERECTION OF 
THE CITY INTO AN EPISCOPAL SEE 

The roar of thirteen guns, fired in the fort at 
the Battery, at sunset, March 3rd, 1789, an- 
nounced to all within hearing that the old Con- 
federation of States was at an end, and next 
morning eleven guns, in honor of the States that 
adopted the Constitution, ushered in the new era. 
The following day there were more salutes, and 
at intervals the city's bells rang out glad peals, 
for on that day the Congress was to convene in 
the remodeled Federal Hall. When noon, the 
hour for opening the session, arrived, there were 
but eight Senators and thirteen Representatives 
present. Not until April 1st was there a quorum 
of the House present. 

The Capital of the United States had over- 
come the effects of the great fires of 1776 and 
1778 and the ravages of seven years' British mil- 
itary occupation. The population was estimated 
to be about 29,000, and there were 4,200 houses. 
Land was not scarce on Manhattan Island in 
those days, and many of the dwellings were de- 
tached and surrounded by gardens. West of 
Broadway to the river and north to Reade Street 



390 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was thickly populated, but beyond Reade Street 
the only important structures were the hospital 
and the Congregational meeting-house on Broad- 
way below the line of what is now Leonard Street. 
On the east side Bayard's Lane, now Broome 
Street, was the line that separated city from 
country. There were still many of the lofty 
peaked-roof Dutch houses, gable ends to the 
street, but the houses were mostly of the English 
style of architecture, either all brick with tiled 
roof or brick fronts with frame sides and rear. 
New streets had been laid out and old ones wid- 
ened and improved. Abraham Van Gelder re- 
ceived £33 a month for lighting and cleaning the 
street lamps, but there were frequent complaints 
of faulty illumination. The Park, triangular in 
shape and enclosed with a wooden fence, was 
bounded by Great George Street, as Broadway 
north of St. Paul's Chapel was called. Park 
Row, Vesey, and about on a line with Murray 
Street. At its northern end stood the Bridewell 
Almshouse and Jail, facing south, and north of 
these the Upper Barracks. Broadway was paved 
from Bowling Green to Vesey Street, but was 
badly graded. Its principal buildings were Trin- 
ity Church, St. Paul's Chapel, the City Tavern, 
the town's principal hostelry, the Kennedy Man- 
sion, No. 1 Broadway, occupied by the Spanish 
Minister, Don Diego de Gardoqui. Opposite 
was the French Legation, in the McComb Man- 
sion. Bowling Green had been enclosed as a park 
in 1733, and near its lower end stood the founda- 
tion of the statue of George III, demolished in 
1776. Further south were the dilapidated fort 
and the Battery. East of Broadwaj^, north to 



IN OLD NEW YORK 391 

Wall Street, had been swept by the fire of 1776, 
and the cheap frame structures erected after- 
wards were now giving way to a fine class of 
buildings. Such was the city at the time of the 
inauguration of President Washington. 

The Catholics had been increasing steadily in 
numbers, and the session of Congress and inau- 
guration had called many notable Catholics from 
various parts of the country to the capital. 

Dominick Lynch, a native of Galway, was 
thirty-one years of age when he arrived in New 
York, in the summer of 1785. His ancestors 
were popular men in their native town, eighty- 
four of them having served as Mayors. He re- 
ceived an excellent education. Five years before 
coming to America, Dominick Lynch had mar- 
ried his cousin, Jane Lynch, in Dublin. Shortly 
after his marriage he opened a branch of his 
father's business in Bruges, Flanders, and in the 
purchase and shipment of flax seed to Ireland 
and the opportunities for trade afforded by the 
wars between England and France, Spain and 
the American colonies, amassed a fortune. He 
met in Bruges Don Thomas Stoughton, a mer- 
chant with important business connections in 
France and Spain, and they entered into a part- 
nership agreement to open a commercial house 
in New York, under the management of Don 
Thomas, he putting in £2,500 and Mr. Lynch 
£5,000. Don Thomas, on his arrival in New 
York, in 1783, launched the firm of Lynch & 
Stoughton. Two years later Mr. Lynch fol- 
lowed him to the city, and both occupied the 
upper part of No. 41-42 Little Dock Street as a 
dwelling. There was mutual dissatisfaction, and 



392 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the firm dissolved in 1795. Suits resulted that, 
after pending for twenty years, were decided ad- 
versely to Mr. Lynch, who had to pay his former 
partner $25,076, with costs and expenses. From 
the time of his arrival in New York, ^Ir. Lynch 
had manifested activity and zeal in the welfare of 
Catholicity in the city and country. He was one 
of the incorporators and trustees when the orig- 
inal charter of St. Peter's was amended in 1787. 
He was designated by the Very Reverend Pre- 
fect Carroll to receive the subscriptions of New 
Yorkers towards the establishment of the Acad- 
emy at Georgetown, that has since become 
Georgetown University, and he was one of the 
illustrious Catholic citizens to sign the address 
of congratulation of the Catholics to President 
Washington in 1790. Mr. Lynch invested cap- 
ital in the China trade, in bank stocks and other 
securities and in real estate. He refused an of- 
fer of a farm of twenty acres not far from the 
City Hall, and invested the amount asked, 
.£2,250, in a tract of 697 acres adjoining Fort 
Stanwix, on the Mohawk River, in 1786. He 
afterwards increased this into a domain of 2,000 
acres, had it surveyed and divided into lots in 
1796, and named it Lynchville, but prior to 1800 
changed it to its present name — Rome. He 
built a country residence for his occupancy when 
business or pleasure called him to his estate. 
Mr. Lynch died, in June, 1825, in a spacious 
stone mansion, in Westchester County, on the 
shores of Long Island Sound, that he had erected 
on an estate purchased by him in 1797. His 
town residence, after 1799, had been No. 16 
Broadway. His family consisted of thirteen 



IN OLD NEW YORK 393 

children, who were carefully reared in the Cath- 
olic faith, but, through intermarriage with non- 
Catholics, most of their descendants were lost to 
the Catholic fold. Mrs. Lynch, who lived until 
1849, was very prominent in the city's social 
circles, and was among the first to pay her 
respects to the wife of President Washington on 
the arrival, in New York, of the first lady of the 
land. 

Don Thomas Stoughton, Mr. Lynch's one- 
time partner, w^as appointed Spanish Consul for 
New York in 1794, his father, Don Juan 
Stoughton, holding a like office for New Eng- 
land. After the dissolution of his partnershijD 
with Mr. Lynch, he occupied No. 24 Greenwich 
Street for his business, consulate and home. His 
son James, who was unmarried, was Spanish 
Vice- Consul, and lived with his father. He was 
a native of New York, had been educated in the 
city, and had his law office at No. 19 Wall Street. 
The untimely death of this very promising and 
popular young man cast a shadow over his 
father's declining years. As Spanish Vice-Con- 
sul, James Stoughton had caused the arrest and 
imprisonment of Robert M. Gooding, the mas- 
ter of a privateer, on a charge of piracy, for cap- 
turing neutral Spanish vessels and selling them. 
Stoughton and Gooding met on Broadway, De- 
cember 21st, 1819, and during an altercation 
Gooding stabbed Stoughton mortally. The mur- 
dered man was in his twenty-third year at the 
time of his death. The trial of Gooding, one of 
the most celebrated murder trials in the annals 
of New York criminal practice, resulted in the 
acquittal of the accused. Don Thomas never re- 



394 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

covered from the blow, and died in 1826. His 
second son, Francisco, succeeded him as Spanish 
Consul. Of Don Thomas the Truth Teller, of 
March 25th, 1826, said: " Died— On Monday 
evening last, in the 78th year of his age, Hon. 
Thomas Stoughton, his Catholic Majesty's Con- 
sul for the State of New York. The deceased 
was one of our most ancient and respected inhab- 
itants; few men have been more universally es- 
teemed, and the numerous friends he has left to 
lament his loss bear ample testimony of the sin- 
gular obligingness of his character and to the 
generous and noble qualities of his heart. He 
received the rights of the Church with sentiments 
of piety, and manifested during his illness the 
most exemplary resignation to the divine will." 
A Catholic neighbor of Lynch & Stoughton, 
living in No. 56 Little Dock Street, was Thomas 
Lloyd, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and, 
in 1789, the official reporter of the House of 
Representatives. He published in that year, in 
Philadelphia, a reprint from the London edition 
of " The Unerring Authority of the Catholic 
Church in IMatters of Faith." Lloyd was born 
in London, England, August 14th, 1756. He 
was educated in the Jesuit College of St. Omer's, 
in Flanders, and two of its professors, during 
his student days, were afterwards Archbishops 
of Baltimore — John Carroll and Leonard Neale. 
He remained in St. Omer's for seven years and 
learned there a system of shorthahd. Acting on 
Father Neale's advice, Lloyd came to America 
and settled in St. jNIary's County, Maryland. 
In later years he said of his education in St. 
Omer's, that he had " been trained not only in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 395 

religious and secular knowledge, but in repub- 
lican principles." At the outbreak of the Revo- 
lutionary War, Lloyd, then nineteen, enlisted in 
the Independent Company of St. Mary's County, 
was chosen Third-Lieutenant, and served until 
the company was disbanded in New Jersey, De- 
" cember 1st, 1776. He then joined the Third 
Maryland Regiment as ensign and, September 
11th, 1777, was shot, bayonetted and taken pris- 
oner at the battle of the Brandywine. The 
wounded prisoners were exchanged, and Lloyd 
was sent to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On recov- 
ering from his wounds he was assigned to the 
Quartermaster's Department, with the rank of 
captain, and later went to England, by way of 
France, on a secret mission, it is supposed. He 
had met Mary Carson, a Presbyterian, in Lan- 
caster, and on his return they were married, at 
Lancaster, October 2nd, 1780. When Congress 
established the Finance Department, Lloyd was 
appointed secretary to Michael Hillegas, Treas- 
urer of the United States, and retained that posi- 
tion until after peace was declared. The year 
before he came to New York, he reported the 
proceedings of the Pennsylvania House of As- 
sembly for the Pennsylvania Packet, the first 
stenographic newspaper reporting in Philadel- 
phia. He published " The Congressional Reg- 
ister, or History of the Proceedings and Debates 
of the First House of Representatives in the 
United States of America," in four volumes, and 
" The Acts Passed at a Congress of the United 
States Begun and Held at the City of New York 
on Wednesday, the 4th of March, in the Year 
1789," and also the acts of the sessions of 1790. 



396 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

When Congress removed the capital to Philadel- 
phia, Lloyd reported the proceedings of the 
House until 1791, when he and his wife went to 
England to look after the landed interests he had 
there. While in London he was arrested for 
debt and imprisoned in the Fleet. Captain Pat- 
rick Duffin, a fellow prisoner, vented his repub- 
licanism in a placard posted in the prison. Lloyd 
was accused as an accessory. Both were charged 
with sedition, found guilty, and Lloyd's sen- 
tence was one hour in the pillory, three years in 
Newgate jail, and $500 bonds for good behavior 
for five years. He served his sentence, and, re- 
turning to Philadelphia, obtained his old place 
as reporter to Congress. Later he was employed 
as secretary to a commission and as reporter to 
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 
Mrs. Lloyd had become a Catholic, and all their 
children were reared, lived and died in the Cath- 
olic faith. Thomas Lloyd, " the Father of 
American Shorthand,'* died in Philadelphia, Jan- 
uary 19th, 1827, and his dust rests in St. Augus- 
tine's burial ground in that city. 

At No. 23 Nassau Street lived Wilham 
Mooney, an upholsterer, an active member of St. 
Peter's Church from its inception, and the 
founder and first Grand Sachem of the Tam- 
many Society, or Columbian Order, which he 
organized this year. Other prominent bene- 
factors of St. Peter's at this date were: Jose 
Roiz Silva, merchant. No. 1 Beekman Street; 
James Stewart; Andrew Morris, chandler, No. 
48 Great Dock Street; Gibbon Burke, grocer. 
No. IGl Water Street; Charles Naylor, mer- 
chant. No. 48 William Street; George Barnwell, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 397 

merchant, No. 205 Water Street, and John 
SuUivan, grocer, Moore Street. 

The grandest building in New York, and, it 
was asserted, in the country, was Federal Hall, 
northeast corner of Wall and Nassau streets, 
transformed from the City Hall, in which, it will 
be recalled, were held the trials of the negroes 
implicated in the so-called negro plot, into a Cap- 
itol to house the two bodies of the Congress of 
the United States. The Continental Congress 
had held some sessions therein in 1785, but the 
building, after eighty-five years of service, was 
dilapidated, and it was resolved to reconstruct it 
within and without. The Common Council en- 
trusted the work of remodeling the building to 
Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French officer 
and a Catholic, who had come to the assistance of 
the struggling colonies with Lafayette in 1777. 
When his work was finished, at an outlay of 
$65,000, the Common Council conferred on him 
the freedom of the city and offered him ten acres 
of the common lands located on what is now the 
east side of Third Avenue, between Sixty-eighth 
and Sixty-ninth streets. He declined to accept 
the land, and, in 1801, petitioned for a sum of 
money, but refused with scorn the $750 offered 
him. L'Enfant was a genius, but eccentric and 
irascible. He was born in France, in 1755, and 
was but twenty-two when he came to America 
and was commissioned a captain. He was dan- 
gerously wounded at Savannah in 1779, and was 
promoted Major in 1783. Secretary of State 
Thomas Jefferson, January 29th, 1791, asked 
Major L'Enfant to make such drafts of the 
ground in the survey for the Federal City 



398 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

(Washington) as would enable President Wash- 
ington "to fix the spot " for the various public 
buildings and determine the location of reserva- 
tions. L'Enfant drew elaborate plans for the 
capital, but about a month later was dismissed 
from the public employ for refusing to obey the 
orders issued by the Commissioners. He was 
succeeded by James Reed Dermott, whose adap- 
tations of L'Enfant's plans were adopted. 
L'Enfant was the designer of the medal of the 
Order of the Cincinnati, and received a vote of 
thanks of the Trinity Corporation for his design 
of a symbolical scene on Mount Sinai that was 
placed over the altar in St. Paul's Chapel. He 
was the architect of a magnificent residence for 
Robert Morris in Philadelphia, in which, before 
it was finished, Morris sunk a fortune. L'En- 
fant died, in Prince George's County, Maryland, 
June 14th, 1825. 

Among the Congressmen who assembled in 
the city were the following Catholics: Senator 
Charles Carroll, of Maryland, who made his 
home in No. 52 Smith Street, as William Street 
below Maiden Lane was called; Representatives 
Thomas Fitz Simons, of Pennsylvania, at Mr. 
Anderson's, in Pearl Street; Daniel Carroll, of 
Maryland, with his cousin, Charles Carroll, in 
No. 52 Smith Street, and Judge Aedanus Burke, 
of South Carolina, in Mr. Hick's, Wall Street, 
corner of William Street. 

Daniel Carroll was a native of Maryland, a 
member of the Continental Congress and a dele- 
gate to the convention that framed the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. He served as a repre- 
sentative in Congress in 1789-91, and was one of 




DANIEL, CARROLL 



IN OLD NEW YORK 399 

the commissioners appointed by Congress to sur- 
vey the District of Columbia. His farm covered 
considerable of the ground now included in the 
city of Washington. He died, in Washington, 
in 1829, at an advanced age. 

Of the founders of the Republic, Thomas Fitz 
Simons is one of the least known to posterity, yet 
few played a more important part in forming the 
economic policies of the infant Republic. A 
native of Ireland, he came to Philadelphia with 
his father prior to 1758. He married Catherine, 
sister of George Meade, a merchant of Philadel- 
phia, and a Catholic, in 1763. 

The patriots of Philadelphia met at the City 
Tavern, May 20th, 1774, to consider the state 
of affairs resulting from Parliament's oppres- 
sive enactments, and Thomas Fitz Simons was 
one of a Committee of Correspondence to call a 
general meeting of citizens. He was a convener 
of the Continental Congress that assembled in 
Philadelphia, September 4th, 1774. When the 
news from Lexington fired the blood of the 
Pennsylvanians, an association of patriots, known 
as the Associators, became an armed militia. 
Fitz Simons organized a company, which was as- 
signed to the Third Battalion under Colonel Cad- 
walader. During the fall and winter of the 
trying year 1776-7 he and his company did duty 
in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Fitz Simons, 
who was a member of the extensive ship-owning 
firm of George Meade & Co., and, therefore, well- 
equipped for the work, was appointed a member 
of the Naval Board by the Supreme Executive 
Council, in March, 1777. Fitz Simons and 
Meade were the owners of nine privateers that, 



400 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

later in the war, preyed on the British. He was 
at one time owner of the ship " Hyder Alley," 
that captured H. M. ship " General Monk " in 
sight of a British frigate. " This action has been 
deemed," wrote James Fenimore Cooper, " one 
of the most brilliant that ever occurred under the 
American flag." 

In 1779, Fitz Simons became a member of the 
Republican Society, an organization formed for 
the purpose of securing the adoption of certain 
amendments to the Constitution of 1776. In 
1780, during the darkest days of the war, the 
Bank of Pennsylvania was organized to supply 
the patriot army with provisions for two months. 
" Each subscriber gave bond to the Directors," 
says Martin I. J, Griffin, " to pay their subscrip- 
tion in specie in case it was demanded to meet 
the bank's engagements. The subscriptions 
amounted to £315,000 in notes on interest. 
Directors to borrow money on credit of Bank 
for 6 months or less at 6 per cent, and to receive 
from Congress sums appropriated. All money 
to be used to purchase provisions and expenses 
of transportation." George Meade & Co. sub- 
scribed ,£2,000. The subscription was timely be- 
cause needed, patriotic because of the critical 
period at which it was tendered, but, withal, a 
business venture. 

Alexander Hamilton has left testimony of the 
valuable assistance given him by Thomas Fitz 
Simons in establishing the financial policy of the 
United States government. He was elected to 
the Congress of the Confederacy, November 
12th, 1782. His home became the social gather- 
ing place of his fellow Congressmen, and here he 



IN OLD NEW YORK 401 

discussed with Hamilton, Madison, Carroll and 
others the laws proposed for the government of 
the Confederacy. With Hamilton and Madison 
he was placed on a committee of the Congress to 
reply to a letter from Rhode Island, assigning 
reasons for not complying with the laws of Con- 
gress relative to import duties and prize goods. 
An outcome of that committee's labors was the 
policy of protection for infant American indus- 
tries. The Constitution of Pennsylvania pro- 
vided that •' in order to keep inviolate forever the 
freedom of the Commonwealth, Censors should 
be annually chosen." At the general election of 
1783, Fitz Simons was chosen a member of the 
Council of Censors. An ardent advocate of the 
election of General Arthur St, Clair to the Gov- 
ernorship of Pennsylvania, it was suggested to 
him that he might damage his own political pros- 
pects by promoting the fortunes of one who 
might be defeated. His answer was an indica- 
tion of the man's character : " I conceive it to be 
a duty to contend for what is right, be the issue 
as it may." 

With Charles and Daniel Carroll and Dom- 
inick Lynch, Mr. Fitz Simons signed the address 
of the American Catholics to Washington after 
his election to the Presidency. George Meade 
and Thomas Fitz Simons dissolved partnership 
in 1784, and Mr. Fitz Simons opened a place of 
business on Walnut Street Wharf. He was 
elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1785 
and 1786, and was a delegate to the Constitu- 
tional Convention that assembled May 25th, 
1787. In that convention Fitz Simons, an ardent 
Federalist, voted against universal suffrage and 



402 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

favored limiting the suffrage to freeholders. He 
advocated giving Congress the power to tax both 
exports and imports, and voted to make the ac- 
tion of both branches of Congress necessary to 
ratify treaties. With the adoption of the Consti- 
tution Fitz Simons was elected a member of the 
first Congress, and was re-elected to the second 
and third. His abilities demanded recognition 
and received it, as indicated by his appointment 
to the most important committees. In the first 
Congress he was on the Committee of Ways and 
Means, on a committee to draft an act " for 
regulating the collecting imj)orts and tonnage," 
on a committee to fix the compensation of the 
President, Vice-President, Senators and mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives, and was 
chairman of a committee to prepare an act pro- 
viding a government for the northwest territory. 
In later sessions he was chairman of a committee 
to provide for a settlement of accounts between 
the Federal government and the States, chair- 
man of a committee to ascertain " how far the 
owners of ships shall be liable to freighters of 
goods shipped on board," and chairman of a com- 
mittee to prepare a bill empowering the collector 
of the port of Philadelphia to permit the landing 
of merchandise at other places than that city 
when navigation was obstructed by ice. He was 
a member of a committee to which was referred a 
message from President Washington treating of 
points of reciprocal commercial advantages be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain, and 
one of another committee of three to draft an 
act supplementary to the act re-establishing a 
Treasury Department. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 403 

Madison and Webster " regarded it as im- 
portant historical evidence that Thomas Fitz 
Simons was the first to suggest as the clear duty 
of Congress and so laying of imports as to en- 
courage manufacturers." 

The foregoing list of important committees on 
which Mr. Fitz Simons served warrants the as- 
sertion that no man was more closely identified 
with framing the laws regulating the revenue, 
commerce and finances of the young nation. The 
business relations between Thomas Fitz Simons 
and Robert Morris were very intimate. As an 
accommodation to Mr. Morris, Fitz Simons had 
signed notes for many thousands of dollars. 
When Morris failed Fitz Simons, in 1805, went 
down in the financial crash. He made a state- 
ment that for notes of half a million dollars for 
which he had received no value, he had paid out 
$150,000. 

Five years later Mrs. Fitz Simons died. The 
following year, August 26th, 1811, Thomas Fitz 
Simons died in his home. No. 220 Mulberry, or 
Arch Street, Philadelphia, in his seventieth year. 
The place of his interment is unknown. 

Judge Aedanus Burke is a very interesting fig- 
ure in the history of that day. He was born in 
Galway, Ireland, June 16th, 1743, and was edu- 
cated for the priesthood at St. Omer's. He went 
to the West Indies, and from there to South 
Carolina on the eve of the Revolutionary War. 
He was a major in the patriot army until chosen a 
State Supreme Court Justice in 1778, leaving the 
bench during a British invasion of the State to 
again take the sword. When the courts were 
reorganized, he resumed his judicial position and 



404 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

was one of a commission of three to form a digest 
of the State's laws. He was an ardent anti- 
Federahst in the State convention that ratified 
the United States Constitution, because he feared 
centrahzation of power. After the adoption of 
the Constitution he was elected a Representative 
to the first Congress. He served from 1789 
until the passage of a law in the South Carolina 
Legislature, 1791, which prohibited State Judges 
from leaving the State, whereupon he resigned 
from Congress. He served several times in the 
State Assembly, and just prior to his death, in 
Charleston, in 1802, became State Chancellor. 
He was an ardent, uncompromising republican, 
and published a pamphlet attacking the Order of 
the Cincinnati that caused the Order to revise its 
Constitution and eradicate some of its aristocratic 
provisions. The pamphlet was translated into 
French by Mirabeau. Thomas Burke, a near 
relative of Judge Burke, was Governor of North 
Carolina, had been a member of the Continental 
Congress from 1776 until 1781, and served as a 
volunteer in the army. 

The Burkes, according to Martin I. J. Grifiin, 
were, as most men in their time, of convivial 
habits, and about them he attributes the old 
saying in its corrected form, " It is a long time 
between drinks, as the Governor of North Caro- 
lina said to the Chief Justice of South Carolina." 
Judge Burke was in New York in 1799, as he 
acted as Aaron Burr's second in a duel with John 
B. Church, at Hoboken. 

A New York newspaper of the day pub- 
lished the advertisement of Robert Hodge, a 
pubhsher, of No. 37 King (Pine) Street, in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 405 

which he offered for sale, at two shillings, a 
pamphlet entitled " The Resurrection of Laurent 
Ricci, or a True and Exact History of the Jes- 
uits." This pamphlet, printed in Philadelphia, 
was a virulent attack on the Very Reverend Pre- 
fect John Carroll, and likened him to Father 
Laurent Ricci, a deceased General of the Society 
of Jesus. Its dedication read: "To the new 
Laurent Ricci in America, the Reverend Father 
John Carroll, Superior of the Jesuits (footing) 
in the United States; also to the Friar Monk- 
Inquisitor William O'Brien (one of his many 
contrivers to set his engines at work without 
interfering visibly himself). This Treatise is 
Humbly Dedicated.'' 

The author said that the publication was " a 
well meant caution to the United States of Amer- 
ica, on the Danger of admitting that turbulent 
Body of Men called Jesuits among them." . . . 
" They have given some Instances of their Art 
and Ambition. Those that follow, are striking 
ones: In erecting the Chapels opened at New 
York and Boston by foreign Ecclesiastics, they 
have occasioned and been guilty of the most 
shocking offences, in Order to remove them, un- 
der various pretences, and appoint others in their 
Room. At New York, their Chief came and tore 
off the Sacerdotal Ornaments from the Priest at 
the Altar, beat and struck him with his Fists, be- 
fore the Assembly of the Faithful." A note on 
page 28 of the pamphlet read: " The inquisitor 
Monk, William O'Brien, has himself verified this 
charge; for in New York and Boston he has said 
and written everything possible, false, wicked 
and absurd, to the injury of the first Roman 



406 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Catholic Priests in those Cities, with design 
to prejudice their congregations against them 
and remove them therefrom greatly to the dis- 
grace of the Roman Catholic Religion. These 
are two instances among many that might be 
cited of his bad heart and Machiavellian con- 
duct." The authorship of this pamphlet has 
never been positively fixed, but a certain French 
priest, who had for a time been stationed in New 
England and was stigmatized by an eminent 
non-Catholic divine of New England as a 
" speckled bird," is supposed to have been its 
author. 

April 23rd was one of New York's glorious 
days. General Washington was rowed from 
Elizabethport to New York in a barge manned 
by thirteen New York pilots dressed in white 
uniforms. His Most Catholic Majestj^'s sloop 
of war " Galveston " was lying below the Bat- 
tery, and many were the unfavorable comments 
on her undecorated appearance, when everything 
afloat was gay with bunting. Just as the barge 
came abreast of the Spanish warship she was, with 
magical rapidity, covered with flags from stem to 
stern, her yards manned, and from her sides 
burst the flash and smoke of a thirteen-gun 
salute. Among the members of the Congres- 
sional committee that accompanied the President- 
elect from Elizabethport to New York was 
Senator Charles Carroll. Two days later Repre- 
sentative Daniel Carroll was appointed a mem- 
ber of the joint committee of Congress to 
discuss the title, place and manner in which, and 
by whom, the oath of office should be adminis- 
tered to Washington. Major L'Enfant was 



IN OLD NEW YORK 407 

appointed on a committee to act as assistants at 
the inauguration ceremonies, but he declined to 
serve. The French and Spanish Ministers and 
their suites were conspicuous figures in the pro- 
cession from Murray's Wharf to the FrankHn 
House. Washington was inaugurated on the 
balcony of Federal Hall at noon, April 30th, 
1789. The city was gay with bunting, and the 
people wild with enthusiasm. Tradition says 
that during the ceremonies Thomas Lloyd, the 
official reporter of the House, stood near Wash- 
ington, and in the assemblage at the rear of the 
balcony were Senator Carroll, Representatives 
Daniel Carroll, Thomas Fitz Simons and Aeda- 
nus Burke, Don Diego de Gardoqui, the Span- 
ish Minister, Count Moustier, the French Min- 
ister, and the man who had so much to do with 
the stage setting of the occasion. Major L'En- 
fant. A goodly representation of Catholics at 
this placing of the capstone on the national arch. 
In the evening there was a great display of fire- 
works at the Battery, and the whole city was 
illuminated, but no houses more brilliantly than 
the French and Spanish Embassies. On the 
Spanish Embassy, transparencies, moving pic- 
tures, lanterns and candles represented wisdom, 
justice, fortitude, the sun, moon and stars and 
the Spanish royal arms. 

A ball was held in the City Assembly Rooms, 
on Broadway, May 7th, attended by every dis- 
tinguished person in the city. Count de Mous- 
tier, in his red-heeled shoes and earrings, was 
present, with his eccentric sister, and Catholic 
social New York was represented by JMrs. Dom- 
inick Lynch. A week later Count de jMoustier's 



408 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

fete in honor of Washington drew together New 
York society. The McComb Mansion, in which 
the Minister made his home, has been described 
as it appeared on the night of the fete : " People 
wandered about gaining peeps of fairyland till 
the quadrilles were danced, and then began a 
scene bewildering in its beauty, where the red, 
red rose of France and the bluebells, symbolizing 
the color of Columbia, were blended with scarlet 
regimentals and uniforms of buff and blue, ceru- 
lean gauzes and floating scarfs of rosy tulle. 
Eight gentlemen, in French and American uni- 
forms, danced with eight ladies typifying the 
countries of Washington and Lafayette." It is 
rather amusing to read, as a pendant to this open- 
ing revelry, that the supper, served from a long 
table running from end to end of the room, and 
displayed upon shelves covering the inner wall, 
consisted of " cakes, oranges, apples, wine of all 
sorts, ice creams, etc., and highly lighted up." 
And also that the " height of jollity " was " at 
10 o'clock." 

The Spanish Minister gave a ball in the Em- 
bassy, May 22nd. In September he presented 
to the President, Jose Viar, the Spanish Charge 
d' Affaires, who occupied the post until 1794, and 
again for a time in 1796. Don Diego, to the 
great regret of New Yorkers, returned to Spain, 
October 10th. 

Matthew Carey, the Catholic publisher of 
Philadelphia, issued the first edition of the Douay 
Bible in 1790, and the list of New York sub- 
scribers consists of the following names : George 
Barnwell, Francis Childs, John Downing, Jo- 
seph Idelle (or Idley), William Lalor, Domin- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 409 

ick Lynch, Andrew Morris, William Moonej^ 
Reverend William O'Brien, Jose Roiz Silva, 
George Speth, Thomas Stoughton, John Sulli- 
van, William Tinney and C. Naylon (Naylor). 
The necessity for a Bishop to rule the increasing 
number of shepherds and growing flocks had be- 
come imperative, and the Holy See had, on the 
recommendation of the American clergy, named 
Father John Carroll. He was consecrated in 
Lulworth Castle, England, on the Feast of the 
Assumption, 1790, and returned to America in 
December on the ship " Samson," Captain 
Thomas Moore. He had, as a companion on the 
voyage, the Right Reverend James Madison, 
Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Virginia. 

During this year the city had as visitors the 
Chevalier de Pontgibaud and the Marquis de 
More, French volunteer officers in the war for 
American independence. An extract from an old 
letter affords a glimpse of the quaint social life 
of that day : " I remember going one night with 
Sir John Temple (the British Consul) and 
Henry Remsen to a party at their (the Misses 
Whites', in Wall Street, near Broadway) house. 
I was dressed in a light French blue coat, Nan- 
keen colored cassimere breetches, with white silk 
stockings, shining pumps and full ruffles on 
my breast and at my wrists, together with a 
ponderous white cravat with a pudding in it, as 
we then called it; and I was considered the best 
dressed gentleman in the room. I remember to 
have walked a minuet with much grace, with my 
friend Mrs. Verplanck, who was dressed in hoop 
and petticoats ; and, singularly enough, I caught 
cold that night from drinking hot port wine 



410 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

negus, and riding home in a sedan chair, with one 
of the glasses broken." 

The French Revolution was driving the Roy- 
alists into exile. Among the distinguished ref- 
ugees who came to America was Francois Au- 
guste. Viscount de Chateaubriand, statesman and 
author, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1791, 
where he dined with Washington. His ostensible 
mission to America was to search for the north- 
west passage. He visited New York, Boston 
and Albany, dwelt for some time with Indian 
tribes in the West, and explored the territory 
bordering on the great lakes of the valley of the 
Mississippi. 

Chateaubriand was a native of St. Malo, and 
was twenty-three when he arrived in America. 
He was destined for the priesthood, but, pre- 
ferring the army, was commissioned a Second- 
Lieutenant when he was fifteen. Hearing of the 
arrest of Louis XVI while in America, he hur- 
ried back to Europe, and, enlisting in a company 
of Frenchmen who followed the Prussian Army 
that invaded France, was wounded and left for 
dead on the field near Thionville. He was taken 
to Jersey, and on his recovery went to England. 
He lived there from 179S to 1800, reduced to ex- 
treme poverty. His political creed was that he 
was " a Bourbon from the point of honor, a roy- 
alist by reason, a republican by taste and dispo- 
sition." He filled for a time a diplomatic post 
under Bonaparte. After the Restoration he be- 
came Minister of State and a peer of France. 
Losing and regaining the royal favor, he served 
as Minister to Brazil in 1821, to London in 1822, 
and as Minister of Foreign Affairs until, having 



IN OLD NEW YORK 411 

been dismissed from office, he became a Liberal. 
He retired from politics in 1830 and engaged in 
literary pursuits. Like many eminent French- 
men of his time, Chateaubriand had drifted into 
materialism, until he was recalled to his faith by 
the dying appeal of his mother. In 1798 he be- 
gan to compose his great Christian work, " The 
Genius of Christianity." He died in Paris, July 
4th, 1848. In his last moments he was ministered 
to by Father de Ravignan. He tore from his 
works every page that his conscience rejected, 
and at his dictation his nephew wrote: " I de- 
clare before God that I retract every passage in 
my writings opposed to the Faith, to good morals, 
or to sound principles in general." 

The City Directory for 1792 records the name 
" Rev. Nicholas Burke, pastor of St. Peter's 
Church, apostolic priest, 41 Partition Street " 
(Fulton Street from Broadway to the North 
River). Doctor John Gilmary Shea says that 
the Reverend " Michael " Burke was Father 
William O'Brien's substitute during the latter's 
absence on his collecting tour in Mexico. During 
1792 the front portico and sacristy of St. Peter's 
were finished and the pews installed. 

The Revolution in France and the negro up- 
rising in San Domingo had driven so many of 
the French to the United , States, and particu- 
larly to New York, as to give a distinct Gallican 
tone to the community. The De Courcy-Shea 
" History of the Catholic Church in the United 
States " says " that one thousand whites and five 
hundred colored people, driven from San Do- 
mingo by the revolution, arrived in Baltimore in 
1793, and that so large a part of the inhabitants 



412 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

came to America and settled that this French 
Cathohc immigration exceeded in numbers the 
French Protestant immigration of the previous 
century," and further the same historians wrote: 
" English fanaticism (in Acadia) and the dis- 
asters of the revolution (in San Domingo) peo- 
pled the territory of the United States with more 
French Catholics than the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes ever sent Protestants." These people 
were of all grades of society, but the revolutions 
had proved great levelers. Many of the nobility 
had lost all their possessions and reached New 
York almost penniless. Many of them found 
a means of livelihood by teaching languages, 
music, or those among them who had some means 
engaged in business. Brissot de Warville, the 
French Revolutionist and author, who had been 
in the United States in 1789, did not approve 
of the attitude of some of his countrymen 
towards America and Americans. He wrote 
that the Frenchmen whom he met in this country 
spent their time in boasting of the services which 
France had rendered to the Americans and in 
sneering at the tastes and customs of the Amer- 
icans. 

Among those who suffered the direst priva- 
tions in New York in 1793 was Mederic Louis 
Elie Moreau de Saint Merv. He was a native of 
the Island of JNIartinique, and at twenty had 
gone to France and entered the royal police. He 
applied himself to the mastery of law, mathe- 
matics and the code. He was admitted to the 
bar, and, returning to Martinique, practiced law. 
He was called to the Superior Council of San 
Domingo in 1780, and employed his leisure hours 



IN OLD NEW YORK 413 

in collecting data relating to the history, geog- 
raphy and laws of the French West Indies. He 
discovered the tomb of Christopher Columbus in 
1783, and restored it at his own expense. San 
Domingo sent him as its rei^resentative to the 
French Parliament, and he was instrumental in 
effecting the election of Lafayette as Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the National Guard. Dur- 
ing one of the party upheavals of the Revolution 
he was imprisoned, but was permitted by his 
guards to escape, and sailed for the United 
States. From New York he went to Philadel- 
phia, where he became a printer and bookseller, 
and published several works dealing with the 
French West Indies. Returning to France in 
1800, he was appointed a Councilor of State and 
sent to Parma, but, probably owing to his being 
related to Josephine, was deposed by Bonaparte 
in 1806. He suffered from poverty until Louis 
XVIII gave him a pension of 15,000 francs. 
He died in Paris, January 13th, 1819. 

John Berard and his wife, fleeing from the 
San Dominican revolution, came to New York. 
With them was Berard's confidential servant, 
Peter Toussaint, a negro slave born on the plan- 
tation of Latibonite, parish of St. Mark, Sari 
Domingo, in 1766. The Berards' departure 
from the island had been hurried, and, having 
estabhshed his wife in New York, ^Ir. Berard 
returned to San Domingo to collect the remnants 
of his fortune, but his death on the voyage left 
her penniless. Toussaint was her sole support. 
He was an expert hairdresser, and his intelligence 
and politeness made him very popular with the 
wealthy society people of the citj^ His earnings 



414 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

were all handed to his mistress, but Madame 
Berard married a Mr. Nicholas, who, from 
being a wealthy planter in San Domingo, had 
been reduced to playing the violin in orchestras 
in New York. Toussaint did not consider him- 
self relieved from the' duty of accounting to his 
mistress for his earnings by the change in her 
condition. He lived the life of a saint, and dur- 
ing the disastrous yellow fever epidemic his con- 
duct was heroic. Madam Berard Nicolas, on her 
deathbed, in 1810, emancipated her faithful slave. 
The greater part of his income was expended 
in relieving the poor, in assisting the infant 
church, and in soliciting alms for his various 
good works. His old non-Catholic patrons were 
among his most liberal contributors. The prin- 
cipal part of his property, his wife and children 
having died, was left to one of his kindest 
patrons, who had been reduced to penury by an 
unfortunate marriage. Toussaint died in his 
eighty-seventh year, June 30th, 1853, and Father 
Quinn, in his remarks after the solemn Mass of 
requiem over his remains, said: " There were left 
few among the clergy superior to him in devotion 
and zeal for the Church and for the glory of 
God; among laymen, none." 

With the arrival and wildly enthusiastic recep- 
tion of " Citizen " Edmond Charles Genet, or 
Genest, the French Minister, in 1794, the French 
craze reached a climax in New York. During 
the same year the French warship " L' Ambus- 
cade," Citizen Bompard master, entered the bay. 
Challenged by the captain of a British warship, 
Bompard took his vessel outside Sandy Hook, 
fought and defeated the Englishman. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 415 

The Frenchman who was chiefly instru- 
mental in inducing King Louis XVI to sign the 
treaty of alliance through which the United col- 
onies became a nation, arrived in New York in 
1794. He was Francois Alexandre Frederic, 
Due de la Roche foucauld-Liancourt D'Estissac. 
In his youth he was known as Count de la Roche- 
foucauld, and in 1767 took the title of Due de 
Liancourt. He became a Lieutenant-General in 
1790. He introduced agricultural improvements 
on his estate, and in 1780 founded and endowed 
a school of mechanical arts, out of which grew 
the school of " Arts et Metiers." 

A deputy to the Assembly of Notables in 
1788, and to the States-General in 1789, he pre- 
sided over the session of the Constituent Assem- 
bly in 1789, in which titles of nobility were abol- 
ished. He was military commander in Rouen in 
1792, and used every endeavor to save the life of 
King Louis. Dismissed from the French serv- 
ice the same year, he passed over to England, 
and two years later came to the United States. 
He traveled extensively in America, studying 
the agricultural methods of the country, and 
bought a farm in Pennsylvania, on which he car- 
ried on his agricultural experiments. After a 
stay of six years in the United States, he visited 
Holland and Denmark, and in 1799 returned to 
France and lived on his estate of Liancourt, 
which had been restored to him by Bonaparte. 
Although he served as a member of the Corps 
Legislatif , he refused to accept any office from 
Napoleon. 

Louis XVIII created him a peer, but philan- 
thropy appealed to him more than politics. The 



416 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

first savings bank in Paris was established by 
him, and mainly through his influence vaccina- 
tion was introduced in that country. He had 
lived under a royal, imperial and republican gov- 
ernment, and, as a result of his experiences, in 
the closing years of his life, became an earnest 
opponent of royalty and a strong advocate of 
American principles and institutions. His op- 
position to the Royalists, his philanthropy, 
benevolence and popularity gained for him from 
his political enemies the nickname " the Saint 
Vincent de Paul of the Liberal Party." He died 
in Paris, March 28th, 1827. 

One day in 1794, two men were promenading 
the sea wall of the Battery. One of them was 
very tall and had long light hair tied in a cue. 
His complexion was sallow, his eyes blue, his 
mouth large and coarse. His big body was in- 
clined to stoutness. Singularly short legs ended 
in deformed feet that caused him to walk with a 
limp. The two lived in the Kennedy house, No. 
1 Broadway, that had been opened as a fashion- 
able boarding house after it was vacated by the 
Sj^anish Minister. The man who has been de- 
scribed and his companion had invested their lit- 
tle capital in freighting a ship in which they 
purposed trying their fortunes in India. All that 
was required for the sailing was a favorable 
wind. One day, while the tall man was seated at 
a desk in his room, writing, his companion. Mon- 
sieur Beaumet, entered hurriedly, in a great state 
of excitement, and said: 

" Why do you lose time in wi'iting those let- 
ters? They will never reach their destination; 
come with me and let us make the round of the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 417 

Battery; the wind may become favorable; per- 
haps we are nearer to our departure than we 
think." 

Towards the close of one of the most eventful 
lives in history, the tall man often told the fol- 
lowing tale: "The day was magnificent, al- 
though the wind was high; I allowed myself to 
be persuaded. Beaumet, as I afterwards recol- 
lected, showed extraordinary alacrity in closing 
my desk, arranging my papers, and offering my 
hat and cane, which I attributed to the need of 
incessant activity with which he had appeared 
overwhelmed ever since our enforced departure. 
We threaded the well-peopled streets and reached 
the Battery. He had offered me his arm, and 
hurried on as if he were in haste to reach it. 
When we were on the grand esplanade, he has- 
tened still more, until we reached the edge. He 
spoke loudly and rapidly, and admired, in ener- 
getic terms, the beauties of the scene. Suddenly 
he stopped, in the midst of his disordered con- 
versation. I had disengaged my arm from his, 
and stood firmly before him. I fixed my eye 
upon him, and he moved aside, as if intimidated 
and ashamed. 

" ' Beaumet,' cried I, ' your intention is to mur- 
der me; you mean to throw me from this height 
into the sea. Deny it, monster, if you dare ! ' 
The insane man looked at me intently with his 
haggard eyes for a moment; but I was careful 
not to remove my gaze from him, and they fell. 
He muttered some incoherent words, and en- 
deavored to pass me, but I spread my arms and 
prevented him. Casting a wild look around, he 
threw himself on my neck and burst into tears. 



418 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

" ' It is true, it is true, my friend. The thought 
has haunted me day and night Hke an infernal 
flame. It was for that I brought you here; see, 
you are not a foot from the precipice ! Another 
instant, the deed would have been done ! ' The 
demon had abandoned him; his eyes were void 
of expression; a white foam covered his parched 
lips ; the crisis had passed. I conducted him home. 
Some days of rest, bleeding and dieting entirely 
cured him, and what is the most singular circum- 
stance of all, we never recurred to the occur- 
rence." 

The relator was convinced that " an extraor- 
dinary and inexplicable prescience " had saved 
his life. Had the deranged Beaumet accom- 
plished his purpose, many pages of the history 
of Europe in the early years of the nineteenth 
century would have read differently. Beaumet's 
companion was Charles Maurice Talleyrand de 
Perigord, formerly Bishop of Autun, subse- 
quently Prince de Benevento. 

Ordered to leave England under the provisions 
of the Alien Act, in January, 1794, he sailed for 
Philadelphia. Although his brilliancy of intel- 
lect drew around him a certain circle of admirers 
in the Quaker city, his manner of life, more par- 
ticularly because of the general knowledge that 
he was an ecclesiastic, disgusted and repelled the 
Philadelphians. Although armed with a letter 
from Lord Lansdowne, Pontgibaud says, Gen- 
eral Washington refused to receive Talleyrand. 
" In spite of all his wit and amiability," wrote the 
Chevalier de Pontgibaud, " he was looked upon 
somewhat coolly by the best society of Philadel- 
phia, with whom his light, careless manners did 



IN OLD NEW YORK 419 

not meet with the welcome they deserved. In 
fact, the Anglo-Americans are simple and 
straightforward in their manners, and the cyni- 
cal, irreverent contempt of their guest for all 
things Americans respected greatly scandalized 
them. M. de Talleyrand had the right, if it 
pleased him, to pull off his clerical gown and trail 
it in the mud, but he had also, at that time, a posi- 
tion as a French emigre, and though he might 
resign for himself the welcome bestowed upon 
unfortunate people in that position, he also in- 
directly injured others." 

He left Philadelphia and came to New York, 
becoming during his stay a citizen of the United 
States. As he is said to have sworn allegiance to 
a dozen constitutions during his career, his Amer- 
ican citizenship probably impressed him but 
lightly. He removed from New York to Brook- 
lyn, and lived for a time in a house on Fulton 
Street, near Hicks Street. A favorite amuse- 
ment of this future Prince of the French 
Empire was to climb to the seat of a farm 
wagon and, with its Dutch American farm- 
hand for a companion, ride along the tree- 
embowered highways of Flatbush and New 
Utrecht. 

The excommunicated Bishop of Autun re- 
turned to France in 1795 and, from being a close 
friend of Louis XVI, became a supporter of the 
Directory. Two years later he was appointed 
Foreign Minister. From the beginning to the 
close of his pubhc career, he was always at the 
beck of the highest bidder, and amassed great 
wealth by gambling. His corruption caused him 
to lose the portfolio of Foreign Minister, but 



420 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

during the Consulate Napoleon reappointed him 
to the position. 

In 1809 he became estranged from Bonaparte, 
but his office of Vice- Grand Elector saved him 
from the Emperor's vengeance. It was Talley- 
rand who placed Louis XVIII on the throne and 
reintroduced the voice of France into the delib- 
erations of Europe. During the Hundred Days 
he remained in retirement at Carlsbad, and after 
Waterloo became Prime Minister. Resigning 
his office, he passed fifteen years in private life, 
but served under Charles X and Louis Philippe, 
ending his public career in 1834. 

Tlie sentence of excommunication against him 
was recalled in 1801. On the day of his death. 
May 17th, 1838, " he signed a solemn acknowl- 
edgement of repentance for those errors of his 
life which had brought upon him the censure of 
the Church." 

The closing paragraph of his " retractation " 
read : " I deplore, afresh, those acts of my life 
which have offended the Church, and my last 
prayers will be for her and for her supreme 
leader." 

In the multitude of expatriated Frenchmen 
who did so much to build up and enrich the west- 
ern metropolis was Joseph Thebaud, who came 
to the United States in 1793. He was the agent 
of the French East India Company, and the 
American representative of several French cap- 
italists and companies. On his arrival he located 
in Boston for a time, removing to New Haven, 
where he married a Miss Le Breton, formerly 
of Martinique. Locating permanently in New 
York, he opened a counting room at No. 11 



IN OLD NEW YORK 421 

Beekman Street, and made his home in No. 12, 
opposite. His country residence was a fine brick 
mansion, located in spacious grounds, on the hne 
of the present Orchard Street. He was an en- 
thusiastic botanist, and his large greenliouses 
were his especial pride. He was the originator 
of the French Benevolent Society, and a leading 
director of the Mechanics' Bank. He was re- 
garded as one of the prominent merchants of the 
city. Mr. Thebaud died in 1811. 

An epidemic of yellow fever, in 1795, carried 
off 732 people, many of them Catholic immi- 
grants lately arrived in the city. There was con- 
sternation in the city, business was at a standstill, 
and services were held frequently in the churches 
to implore Divine aid. 

The vestry of Trinity Church, in this year, re- 
ceived " a Petition from the Trustees of the 
Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter's in this 
City praying the Board to relinquish a Part of 
the Arrears now due, and an abatement of their 
Bent." The vestry resolved, June 8th, " that the 
Board will dispose of to the Trustees of Saint 
Peter's Church in fee simple all those Lots under 
Lease to them for the sum of one thousand 
pounds to be paid in two months, and will remit 
and discharge them from all Back Rents due to 
this Corporation if such takes effect." Notwith- 
standing the great influx of French during these 
years, the income of St. Peter's was evidently in- 
sufficient for the support of the church. Accus- 
tomed to a State-endowed church, many gave 
little, if any, pecuniary assistance, and others, 
particularly the West Indies, were affiliated with 
the Masonic fraternity. 



422 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

The records of Trinity parish for 1796 show 
a donation of money from " the Minister of the 
Roman CathoHc Congregation " towards the 
support of Trinity Parish Charity School. This 
school was established in 1709, during the rec- 
torate of the Keverend William Vesey, D.D. 

The name of the Reverend John Baptist 
Joseph Le Maire, evidently a visiting priest, ap- 
pears on the baptismal register of St. Peter's 
this year. The trustees of St. Peter's petitioned 
Bishop Carroll to appoint the New England con- 
vert. Father John Thayer, to the assistant pas- 
torate of that church, but, owing to some re- 
luctance to receive him on the part of Father 
William O'Brien, the appointment was not 
made. 

Louis Philippe, Due d'Orleans, traveled in 
the United States in 1796-7. He was joined, 
while in this country, by his two brothers, the 
Due de Montponsier and the Comte de Beaujo- 
lais. During their stay in New York they lodged 
in Bloomingdale. Gouverneur Morris furnished 
the money to the future King to enable him to 
reach America and travel while here. He for- 
got the debt when fortune favored him, and it 
became necessary to remind him of it. Morris 
received the exact amount of the loan, but with- 
out a word of thanks. As the French monarch 
indicated thereby that he regarded the loan as a 
strictly business matter, Morris put it on that 
basis, and had his attorney demand twenty years' 
interest, which the King paid. The money re- 
funded amounted to seventy thousand francs. 
Louis Philippe was, like his father, a revolution- 
ist, but, becoming suspected, fled to Switzerland, 



IN OLD NEW YORK 423 

After his American visit, he returned to Europe, 
and, f aihng in an attempt to stir up a revolution 
in Spain, in 1800, retired to England, where he 
remained until permitted to return to France in 
1817. He was a leader of the revolution in 
France in 1830, and was elected King of the 
French. In 1848 he was compelled to resign in 
favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris. He 
died, in England, in 1850. 

The Reverend Jean Ambrose Souge, Canon 
and Theologal of Dol, a refugee from France, 
arrived in the city from England in 1797. The 
Revolution had forced him to flee from France in 
1792, and for five years he had labored in the jur- 
isdiction of the Bishop of London, in Dorchester, 
and had come armed with credentials from 
Bishop John Douglass to Bishop Carroll. After 
a short stay in New York, he proceeded to Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, to be chaj)lain in the family 
of the Vicomte De Sibert Cornillon, an emigre, 
who had settled near that place. With faculties 
from Bishop Carroll, he discharged the duties of 
his priestly office, and was associated in Hart- 
ford for a brief period with the Abbe J. S. Tis- 
serant, the friend and director of the saintly 
Mother Seton. The Abbe Souge was at St. Jo- 
seph's, Talbot County, Maryland, in 1801. He 
ministered to a little colony of Maryland Cath- 
olics in Locust Grove, Georgia, at a later date, 
and after seventeen months' missionary work at 
that place, returned to France. 

The Reverend Fathers Louis Sibourd and 
James Charles Halbout were in the city in 1797. 
The former had labored as a pioneer missionary 
in Pennsylvania as early as 1794. He seems to 



424 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

have been on a short visit to the city at this time, 
but was attached to St. Peter's in 1807-8. He 
served, subsequently, as a Missionary ApostoHc 
in San Domingo. Father Halbout was in the 
city about seven months, and his name appears 
on St. Peter's baj)tismal register. 

A yellow fever epidemic raged in the city from 
July 29th to November 29th, and the mortality 
rose to 2,086. One of the victims was Jose Roiz 
Silva. Among the contributors for the aid of 
the sufferers was Dominick Lynch, who gave an 
ox, 2 pigs, 2 lambs, 80 chickens and 16 bushels of 
potatoes. 

Among the noted Irish immigrants who came 
to New York, as a result of political activity in 
the Rebellion of 1798, was WiUiam O'Brien. He 
established a banking house in the city in 1800, 
and, it is said, refused the New York agency of 
the Bank of England. He died, at the age of 
seventy-eight years, August 31st, 1846. He was 
an ancestor of the deeply lamented Father Will- 
iam O'Brien Pardow, the eminent Jesuit. 

A Frenchman who found fortune in New 
York was Stephen Jumel, who arrived from 
France in 1798. He became an importer, and 
opened a store at No. 39 Stone Street, removing 
fifteen years later to No. 69 Liberty Street, near 
Broadway, and finally locating at the corner of 
Pearl and Whitehall streets. His first wife dy- 
ing, he married, in 1801, Eliza Bowen Croix, 
born at sea, of French parents, and the widow 
of Colonel Peter Croix, of the British Army. 
Jumel, who had amassed a great fortune, bought 
from the Morris estate the mansion and grounds 
bounded by the present Edgecombe Road, Jumel 



IN OLD NEW YORK 425 

Terrace, and 160th and 161st streets. Jumel 
imported from France the finest hangings, plate 
and furniture for the old mansion. Prince 
Jerome Bonaparte, General Moreau and all the 
distinguished Frenchmen who came to the city 
were entertained within its hospitable walls. 
Jumel died in 1832, and was interred in the 
Eleventh Street Cemetery. His widow married 
Aaron Burr shortly after his death, but the union 
was unhappy and short-lived. Madam Jumel 
died in 1865. The Jumel Mansion was recently 
purchased by the Daughters of the Revolution, 
and is maintained as a museum. 

About 1797, and for years after, on patriotic 
holidays, a short, stout figure, clad in a worn and 
faded Continental naval uniform, attracted at- 
tention as it promenaded down Broadway to 
Bowling Green. It was the unhappy, unfor- 
tunate, and, many thought, deranged, " Ad- 
miral " Pierre Landais. He was of a noble and 
wealthy French family, and entered the French 
navy in 1762. He saw active service in 1763, 
circumnavigated the globe with Bougainville in 
1766-67-68, and commanded a line-of -battle ship 
in 1773. 

When the American colonies rose against Eng- 
lish misrule, Landais sacrificed a promising 
career in the French service to assist the Amer- 
icans. Baron Steuben recommended him, and 
the American commissioner in France, Silas 
Deane, gave him command of the ship " Flam- 
mand," loaded with military stores for the Amer- 
icans. He eluded the British cruisers sent out to 
intercept him, and landed his much-needed cargo 
in a friendly port. The Marine Committee of 



426 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Congress praised his skill in executing his task, 
and Congress gave him a commission as captain 
in the navy and voted him 12,000 livres for his 
services. The Marine Committee gave him su- 
perintendence over the building of the warships 
at Portsmouth and Salisbury, calling him in their 
report " an excellent sea officer and skilled in the 
construction of ships-of-war." In the summer 
of 1778 Landais was placed in command of the 
newly-launched frigate " Alliance," 36 guns, and 
carried General Lafayette and his staff to 
France, quelling a mutiny on the voyage. 

In Brest, August, 1779, Landais met John 
Paul Jones, a man with almost as ill-balanced a 
mind as his own, and an enmity grew and in- 
creased between them. A little squadron of four 
vessels had been gathered at the port, and to these 
the " Alliance " was joined. There was serious 
friction as to who should command. After this 
question had been settled by the selection of 
Jones, the ships sailed, August 14th. The squad- 
ron fell in with the Baltic fleet of merchantmen 
convoyed by the warships " Serapis " and 
" Countess of Scarborough," September 23rd. 
In the action that followed Landais was accused 
of cowardice and treachery. Of the former in 
holding aloof in the early part of the engage- 
ment, and of the latter in pouring several broad- 
sides into the " Bon Homme Richard," Jones* 
ship, while she was lashed to the " Serapis." 
Landais' enemies accused him of a design to sink 
Jones' ship that the glory of capturing the " Ser- 
apis " might be his. His friends asserted that 
he was an officer educated in the naval warfare 
of an earlier day, when tactics prescribed every 



IN OLD NEW YORK 427 

movement in an action, and that Jones was a 
daredevil who ignored tactics entirelj^ and that 
the firing on the "Bon Homme Richard " was 
due to the fact that Landais was confused by- 
Jones' maneuvers, which were so greatly at vari- 
ance with those prescribed by the authorities. On 
arriving in France, Jones and some of the of- 
ficers of the squadron reported the aiFair to 
Franklin, reflecting severely on Landais. Lan- 
dais promptly called out Captain Cottineau, of 
the " Pallas," and ran him through. He chal- 
lenged Jones, but the " canny Scot " did not un- 
derstand the duello and eluded him. Landais 
demanded a trial without delay. Franklin or- 
dered him to Paris to answer the charges. He 
hurried there, prepared to meet his accusers, but 
failed to secure a hearing. His old ship, the "Al- 
liance," was in the port of L'Orient in March, 
1780, and Landais petitioned Franklin to rein- 
state him in command. Fourteen officers of the 
ship signed a testimonial declaring Landais to be 
a brave and capable commander, and the crew 
declared that unless arrears of prize money were 
paid and Landais reinstated in command, they 
would not man the vessel. Franklin was in- 
censed at this action, but Arthur Lee, the Amer- 
ican agent at Paris, ruled that Landais' commis- 
sion from Congress had never been revoked, and 
that he was responsible to Congress for the " Al- 
liance " until relieved. Landais promptly took 
command and sailed for Boston. 

The Chevalier de Pontgibaud, a passenger on 
the " Alliance," says in his journal that on the 
voyage Landais " went out of his mind." " We 
had previously noticed some peculiarities in his 



428 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

manner, and we were soon to acquire the cer- 
tainty that he was insane." At dinner one day, 
while Landais was carving a turkey, Commis- 
sioner Lee helped himself to the liver and was 
about to eat it, when Landais rose in a fury and 
threatened to kill him with the carving knife. 
" He was raving mad." Some of the crew, sum- 
moned to the cabin on the order of the commis- 
sioner, seized and bound Landais. The command 
for the remainder of the voyage was given to the 
first officer. 

Landais found in Boston the Court of Inquiry 
awaiting him. He was declared guilty on Jones' 
charges, and was summarily dismissed from the 
American Navy. Returning to France, he en- 
tered the navy of the French Republic, and 
was assigned to the command of the frigate 
" Patriot," 74 guns. Burning with the desire to 
clear his name in the new world, he resigned his 
commission and returned to New York. For 
twenty-three years he haunted the halls of Con- 
gress, urging his claims for arrears of pay and 
prize money, but his demands were never heeded. 
He became poorer and poorer, eking out a mis- 
erable existence by the aid of an annuity pur- 
chased by his arrears of prize money. In a 
memorial to Congress, he said that for seven 
years he had been compelled to subsist on one 
dollar a week, and " when at home to do the mean- 
est drudgery of my lodgings in order to keep my 
honor and integrity unsoiled and to prolong my 
life." His closing years were passed in a house 
on Fulton Street, Brooklyn. In his last illness 
he was carried, at his request, to Bellevue Hos- 
pital, and died there, September 17th, 1820. Two 



IN OLD NEW YORK 429 

years before his death he ordered a tombstone 
erected over his prospective grave in St. Pat- 
rick's Churchyard, in Mulberry Street, that bore 
the following inscription : 

A La Memoire 

de 

PIERRE DE LANDAIS, 

Ancien Contre- Admiral 

au service 

DES ETATS UNIS 

Qui Disparut 

Juin 1818 
Age 87 ans. 

An infant was born of non-Catholic parents 
in the city, in 1799, who was destined to become 
one of the most distinguished Catholic laymen in 
the history of the community — Henry James An- 
derson. He was graduated with the highest hon- 
ors from Columbia College in 1818, and took his 
degree in medicine at the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons five years later, but did not prac- 
tice, devoting his time to mathematical investiga- 
tion. He accepted a call to the chair of mathe- 
matics and astronomy at Columbia College in 
1825, and held that professorship for a quar- 
ter of a century. He was an accomplished 
linguist. 

In 1848 he was geologist to the United States 
Dead Sea Exploring Expedition, under com- 
mand of Lieutenant W. F. Lynch, U.S.N., 
and the government published results of his 
labors in two volumes. He had been for years 
a zealous seeker after the Truth, and, in 1849, 



430 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

while a guest of the astronomer, Arago, he be- 
came a Catholic. During the remainder of his 
days his faith was distinguished by its simplicity 
and unquestioning loyalty. He was elected a 
trustee of Columbia College in 1851, and, re- 
signing his active professorship, was named 
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and As- 
tronomy. He was a member of the first Amer- 
ican pilgrimage to Rome and Lourdes, in 1874, 
and when it disbanded he went, at his own ex- 
pense, to Australia to observe the transit of 
Venus. Returning by way of India, he was 
stricken with cholera that ended his life, at La- 
hore, October 19th, 1875. His large bequests to 
the Church and to charitable institutions resulted 
in the Pope conferring on him the decoration of 
a Knight of St. Gregory the Great. Doctor An- 
derson became a member of the Society of St. 
Vincent de Paul shortly after his conversion, and 
was President of St. Francis Xavier's Confer- 
ence for two years. He was elected President of 
the Particular Council of the Society at its or- 
ganization in 1856, and held a like position in the 
Superior Council from 1860 until his death. He 
was also President of the Catholic Union. To 
his zeal and energy are due in great measure the 
existence of that world-famous institution, the 
New York Catholic Protectory. 

John Baptist Alexis Mary de Seze was one 
of the French nobility ruined and driven from 
home by the French Revolution to eke out an 
existence among strangers. He located at No. 12 
Reade Street, and supported his family by teach- 
ing music. His daughter, Ellen Eugenia Ade- 
laide, whose name is on the baptismal register of 



IN OLD NEW YORK 4^1 

St. Peter's, married John B. Flandrin, a Broad- 
way merchant prince of his day. 

Bishop Carroll, in September, 1799, wrote 
the Reverend Doctor Matthew O'Brien, O.S.D., 
pastor at Albany, N. Y., offering to appoint him 
pastor at Natchez, Mississippi, but in September, 
1800, the trustees of St. Peter's, Thomas 
Stoughton, Charles Naylor, John Sullivan, John 
Hogan, Thomas Cavenagh, Dominick Lynch, 
Andrew Morris and George Barnwall, wrote to 
the Bishop asking the appointment of an as- 
sistant clergyman to that congregation, and in- 
forming him that they had applied to the Rev- 
erend Doctor Matthew O'Brien, " who intended 
embarking for Natchez." The Bishop complied 
with the trustees' request. 

Another Dominican, the Reverend Anthony 
McMahon, died in New York, in July, 1800. 



432 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 



CHAPTER XX 

CONCERNING CATHOLICITY IN THE CITY AT THE 
BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
UNTIL THE ERECTION OF THE CITY INTO AN 
EPISCOPAL SEE, CONCLUDED 

The debt on St. Peter's Church in 1800 was 
about $6,500, the annual income about $1,500, 
and the yearly expenses about $1,400. Father 
Matthew O'Brien, writing from No. 54 Robin- 
son Street, January 5th, 1801, said: " An organ, 
organist and choir are on foot and a singing 
Master attends to form and direct the children, 
many of whom would surprise you by their per- 
formance. All is conducted on the plan of Phil- 
adelphia and Baltimore, and our church is 
crowded. We have catechism twice a week 
previous to the singing, are in trim for prepar- 
ing a first Communion. The organ is more than 
paid for, 500 dollars, and answers very well, and 
we have got a Crimson damask Curtain for the 
altar, to correspond in colour with that which 
fronts the choir and organ. The next object is 
a charity school. The trustees promise to meet 
next week." 

Doctor O'Brien wrote to Bishop Carroll, No- 
vember 16th: " The Church of New York you 
have heard about. You will hear also that its 
congregation has vastly increased, and even now 



IN OLD NEW YORK 433 

* 

would fill two churches. We will finish our 

steeple in the ensuing spring and purchase a Bell, 

our church yard is nearly paid for: We. will put 

a new iron railing to the steps of the Church and 

open another door. Could we effect a chapel of 

ease in the extremity of this city, where most of 

the poor Catholics are thronged it would make 

us happy." 

The churchyard, or cemetery, referred to in 
Doctor O'Brien's letter was a plot of nine lots, 
251x100 feet, on the northwestern corner of 
Prince and Mott streets, purchased by St. Peter's 
trustees. May 23rd, 1801. Two years later ten 
more lots in the rear of these were added. Some 
of the tombstones, dated 1801, indicate that in- 
terments began soon after the property was ac- 
quired. From 1796 until 1801 Catholics were 
buried in what remained of the plot, 100x125 
feet, around St. Peter's after the church edifice, 
48x81 feet, had been erected. Only members of 
the congregation who contributed four dollars 
yearly had the right of burial in this ground. 
Prior to 1796, Catholics were interred in Trinity, 
St. Paul's, or one of the many non-Catholic 
churchyards in the city. 

The green-clad hills of Staten Island, in the 
vicinity of the quarantine, in the summer of 1801, 
were studded with white tents and shelters, oc- 
cupied by the great advance guard of the Cath- 
olic Irish hosts who, with their descendants, were 
destined to make the city up the bay the greatest 
Catholic community in the world. Ship fever 
had broken out in some of the emigrant ships, 
and Doctor Richard Bayley, the health officer of 
the port, to protect the city's dwellers, had caused 



434 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the immigrants to disembark at quarantine. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Seton, Doctor Bayley's daughter, 
who was not a CathoHc at the time, wrote, June 
14th, 1801 : " The scenes of misery here are past 
all description. There are ten large tents, and 
other shelters fitting up as fast as half-a-dozen 
carpenters, boatmen and all hands can work. The 
first thing these poor people did when they got 
their tents was to assemble on the grass and, all 
kneeling, adore our Maker for his mercy, and 
every morning's sun finds them repeating his 
praise." 

The Reverend Father O'lNIahony arrived in 
New York from Ireland in the fall of 1801, and 
Doctor O'Brien recommended him to Bishop 
Carroll as a suitable appointment to the pas- 
torate in Albany. 

Another arrival from Ireland, in the same 
year, was Thomas O'Connor, a native of Dublin, 
Ireland. He became associated with William 
Kernan, father of the late Francis Kernan, 
United States Senator from New York, in 
founding a settlement on a tract of 40,000 acres 
in Steuben County, N. Y. The enterprise not 
meeting his expectations, he returned to New 
York city and devoted himself to literary pur- 
suits. He published the first newspaper in the 
United States devoted to Catholic and Irish in- 
terests. The Shamrock, or Hibernian Chroni- 
cle, issued from December 15th, 1810, to June 
5th, 1813. Under the name The Shamrock, it 
reappeared, June 18th, 1814, and ceased to 
exist with the issue of August 16th, 1817. In 
January, 1819, it was revived as The Globe, a 
monthly magazine, that lasted about one year. 



IN OLD NEW YORK 435 

In 1812 he edited the Military Wlonitor and 
The War for a short time. In 1815 he wrote 
" An Impartial and Correct History of the War 
Between the United States of America and 
Great Britain " (1812-1815), and, in 1825, " The 
Inquisition Examined by an Impartial Re- 
viewer," which was issued in parts. His son 
Charles, one of the most eminent members of the 
American bar, and honored by nominations for 
Lieutenant-Governor of New York and Pres- 
ident of the United States, was born in the city 
January 22nd, 1804. One of his most note- 
worthy achievements was his service against the 
notorious Tweed ring*. This labor was under- 
taken solely through devotion to civic purity, and 
for his services he declined any compensation. 
Thomas O'Connor, whose pen " was ever directed 
in vindicating the fame of Ireland, the honor of 
our United American States, or the truth and 
purity of his cherished Mother, the Apostolic 
Church," died February 9th, 1855, and his dis- 
tinguished son died May 12th, 1884. 

An important body of business men, the Amer- 
ican publishers, held their first social gathering 
in the old City Hotel, on Broadway, one day in 
1802. They had been called together by Matthew 
Carey, a Philadelphia publisher, and an ardent 
Catholic. In his address on that occasion Mr. 
Carey urged " renewed meetings of a like nature 
as the most effective means for the promotion 
and diffusion of knowledge." Matthew Carey 
was born in Ireland in 1760. He received a good 
education, and when, in his fifteenth year, his 
father placed a list of twenty-five trades before 
him and bade him make his choice, he selected the 



436 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

trade of printer and bookseller, much to his 
father's disgust. Tavo j^ears later he published a 
treatise on duelling, followed by an address to 
his fellow Catholics that was so revolutionary in 
tone as to draw down on its writer the wrath of 
the British government, and he was forced to fly 
to Paris. There he met Benjamin Franklin, then 
representing the United States at Versailles, and 
Franklin employed him for about a year. Re- 
turning to Ireland, young Carey published The 
Freemen's Journal, and afterwards The Vol- 
unteers^ Journal. The latter paper became a 
power in Irish politics, and to its efforts was at- 
tributed, in great measure, the legislative inde- 
pendence of Ireland. Accused of libel, because 
of an attack on Parliament and the ministry, he 
was arraigned before the House of Commons, in 
1784, and imprisoned until Parliament was dis- 
solved. 

When liberated, he sailed for America, land- 
ing in Philadelphia November 15th, 1784. He 
began the publication of the Pennsylvania Her- 
ald in 1785. Because of a journalistic diffi- 
culty with Colonel Oswald, he met him in a duel, 
January 1st, 1786, and Carey was shot through 
the thigh bone. Among his achievements were 
his heroic services as a member of the Philadel- 
phia Committee of Health during the yellow 
fever epidemic in 1793. The same year he 
founded the Hibernian Society to care for the 
Irish immigrants. He met William Cobbett in 
controversy and vanquished him. He published, 
for six years, a magazine called The American 
Museum. Matthew Carey married Miss B. Fla- 
haven in 1791, and shortly afterwards opened 



IN OLD NEW YORK 437 

a small bookshop. No citizen of his day was 
more deeply interested in every public question 
and movement. Like Fitz Simons, he was an 
ardent Protectionist, and between 1819 and 1833 
published fifty-nine pamphlets on the tariff. 
Numbers of pamphlets and newspapers attest his 
interest in the questions affecting the United 
States bank. His political books, " The Olive 
Branch," " New Olive Branch," and " Essays on 
Political Economy," are regarded as authorities 
on the political history of that period. His " Vin- 
diciae Hibernicae " is a vindication of his coun- 
trymen from the charges of butcheries alleged 
to have been committed by them in 1641. 

In 1790 he published the first edition of the 
Douay Bible issued in the United States. He 
died in Philadelphia, September 16th, 1839. 

On the " arc de triomphe " in Paris, among the 
names of the generals of the Revolution is that 
of Miranda. A soldier of fortune, Francisco 
Miranda came to New York, in 1803, with a 
scheme to liberate Venezuela from Spain. His 
magnetism and charm and his promises of wealth 
persuaded some of New York's merchant princes 
to advance the necessary funds, and, with two 
armed vessels and two hundred volunteers, in- 
cluding some New York CatholicSj he set sail for 
South America. His force was attacked by the 
Spaniards at Ocumare, ^larch 25th, 1806, and 
he lost a number of men. He captured the town 
of Coro in August, but the apathy of the peoj)le 
caused him to leave for Europe to seek assistance. 
He returned with Simon Bolivar, in 1810, and 
went to Caracas, that city having fallen into the 
hands of revolutionists. Mu'anda organized 



438 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

the government and became Vice-President of 
Congress. Valencia surrendered to him as Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the revolutionary forces, 
August 13th, 1811, and he entered Caracas in 
triumph, April 26th, 1812. He lost the battle 
of Valencia, fought May 14th, 1812, through 
treachery, and reverses and discontent caused 
him to be accused of treachery, and he was taken 
prisoner by the revolutionary authorities. He 
subsequently fell into the hands of the Span- 
iards, and died in prison, in Cadiz, July 14th, 
1816, in his sixtieth year. Miranda was a Ven- 
ezuelan by birth, and at seventeen was a cadet in 
the Spanish military service, attaining the rank 
of Captain. He served in the United States in 
1779 and 1781. Returning to Cuba, he was de- 
tected trading illegally and was forced to fly to 
Europe. At the outbreak of the French Revo- 
lution he entered the revolutionary army, and 
rose to the rank of Major-General. Condemned 
by the Directory, in 1797, he fled to England 
and urged William Pitt to aid him in his designs 
on Venezuela. Failing in England, he found 
the needed help in New York. 

Few New Yorkers know that the librettist of 
Mozart's famous operas, " Don Giovanni," " La 
Nozze di Figaro," and " Cosi Fan Tutti," was, 
for a time, a New York dealer in tea, tobacco 
and drugs. Lorenzo Da Ponte was born in 
Ceneda, Italy, March 10th, 1749. His father, 
Jeremiah Conegliano, was a Jewish leather 
dealer, and the son's name was Emanuel Con- 
egliano. When young Conegliano was in his 
fourteenth year, he, with his father's family, 
was baptized a Catholic. The Bishop of Caneta 



IN OLD NEW YORK 439 

became interested in the lad, gave him his 
name, and sent him to the diocesan seminary, 
where he remained for five years. Father Finotti 
says that Da Ponte was ordained a priest. Poht- 
ical troubles caused him to seek asylum in Vienna, 
and here he met Mozart and wrote the librettos 
of his operas. He lived for a time in London as 
secretary to the Italian opera, and arrived in New 
York June 4th, 1805. In addition to his store- 
keeping, he taught Italian. In his eightieth year 
he was appointed Professor of Italian literature 
in Columbia College. Nine years later he died, 
and was interred in the Eleventh Street ceme- 
tery. Father Finotti says he was reconciled to 
the Church on his deathbed. He wi'ote many 
dramas and sonnets, translated into Italian By- 
ron's " Prophecy of Dante " and Dodsley's 
" Economy of Human Life," and wrote his 
" Life " and the " History of the Florentine Re- 
public and the Medici." 

The famous Irish poet, Thomas Moore, ar- 
rived in New York, a passenger on H. B. Majes- 
ty's frigate " Boston," in 1804. He traveled ex- 
tensively in the United States. The same year 
the city was visited by the dashing young French 
naval officer. Captain Jerome Bonaparte, and his 
lovely bride, formerly Elizabeth Patterson, of 
Baltimore, Maryland. The bride's age was nine- 
teen years, the groom was twenty. William 
Patterson, the bride's father, had come to Amer- 
ica from Ireland, a poor emigrant, and had pros- 
pered until he became the second wealthiest man 
in Maryland. Among the guests at a ball at the 
house of Samuel Chase, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, was Captain 



440 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Jerome Bonaparte, the brother of the First Con- 
sul of France. He met EHzabeth Patterson, 
and mutual admiration became love. Worldly- 
wise William Patterson, aware of the brilliant 
future that awaited young Jerome, and con- 
scious that the First Consul would never consent 
to the union of his young brother with the 
daughter of an American merchant, endeavored 
to end the infatuation by sending Elizabeth to 
Virginia. The lovers corresponded, became en- 
gaged, and Jerome procured a marriage license. 
He was persuaded to defer the nuptials until 
after his nineteenth birthday. William Patter- 
son, determined that if there was to be a marriage 
it would be a contract that could not be broken 
because of flaws, complied carefully with every 
legal formality. Alexander Dallas, Vice-Consul 
of France, afterwards Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, drew the marriage contract, and Archbishop 
Carroll made the couple man and wife in the 
presence of the Mayor of Baltimore and other 
dignitaries. The First Consul sent a message 
to Jerome that his " youthful indiscretion " would 
be forgiven if he would leave the " young per- 
son " in America, but that she would not be per- 
mitted to set foot on French soil. The young 
couple sailed for Lisbon in one of Mr. Patter- 
son's ships, and found there a French warship to 
prevent her landing. Jerome hurried to Paris to 
plead his cause with his famous brother, and the 
ship, mth his bride, proceeded to Amsterdam, 
but its progress was stopped at the mouth of the 
Texel by two more French men-of-war. Eliza- 
beth Bonaparte was forced to seek an asylum in 
England, where her son, Jerome Napoleon 



IN OLD NEW YORK 441 

Bonajiarte, was born, July 5th, 1805. Pope 
Pius VII was appealed to by Napoleon Bona- 
parte to annul the marriage, but he refused abso- 
lutely. The Imperial Council of State j)assed 
a decree of divorce, and granted Madam Bona- 
j^arte a life pension of 60,000 francs annually, if 
she would return to America and renounce the 
family name of the Corsican. She consented 
to return to America, hoping thereby to concili- 
ate her brother-in-law. Jerome was well rewarded 
for his desertion. He was created a Prince of 
the Empire and appointed an admiral, subse- 
quently a general, and successor to the Imperial 
throne, in the event of his brother leaving no 
heir. He was placed on the throne of West- 
phalia, July, 1807, and the following month was 
" married " to the Princess Catherine of Wur- 
temberg. 

After the fall of Bonaparte, Jerome lived in 
exile. Beturning to France, in 1847, he was 
made a Field Marshal, three years later, and died 
near Paris in 1860. 

Elizabeth Bonaparte employed every means 
to maintain the legality of her marriage. When 
the third Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor 
of the French she was granted a formal trial. 
Jerome, the deserter, appealed to the Council of 
State to forbid his son to use the name of Bona- 
parte. The council decreed that, while he might 
use his father's name, he could not be recognized 
as a member of the Imperial family. When 
Jerome, senior, died, his widow brought suit for 
a share of his estate, and, notwithstanding the 
unimpeachable proof of the validity of her mar- 
riage, the Court bowed to the will of Napoleon 



442 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

and decided against her. Her son was, however, 
recognized as a legitimate son of France. Many 
years of EKzabeth Bonaparte's unhappy Hfe 
were spent in Europe. She died in Baltimore, 
April 4th, 1879. Her grandson, Charles Joseph 
Bonaparte, a representative American Catholic, 
is the present Attorney- General of the United 
States. 

On the morning of Ash Wednesday, March 
14th, 1805, a woman of thirty years, fatigued by 
a long walk from her home in the suburbs, en- 
tered St. Peter's Church. In a letter to a friend 
she wrote: "A day of daj^s for me, Amabilia. 
I have been where? To the church of St. Peter, 
which has a cross on the top instead of a weather- 
cock — to what is called here among so many 
churches the Catholic Church. 

" When I turned the corner of the street it is 
in — ' Here, my God, I go,' said I, ' my heart all 
to You.' Entering it, how that heart died away, 
as it were, in silence before that little tabernacle 
and the great crucifixion above it. 'Ah! my 
God, here let me rest,' I said, as I went down on 
my knees, and my head sunk on my bosom. If 
I could have thought of any thing but of God, 
there was enough, I suppose, to have astonished 
a stranger in the hurry and bustle of this con- 
gregation; but as I came to visit His Majesty 
only, I knew not what it meant until afterwards. 
It was a day they receive ashes — the begin- 
ning of Lent — and the most venerable Irish 
priest, who seems just come there, talked of death 
so familiarly that he delighted and revived me. 
After all had departed, I was called to the little 
room next to the sanctuary, and made my pro- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 443 

fession of faith as the Cathohc Church prescrihes, 
and then came away Hght of heart, and with a 
clearer head than I have had these many months, 
but not without begging our Lord to bury deep 
my heart, in that wounded side so well depicted 
in the beautiful crucifixion, or lock it up in His 
little tabernacle where I shall now rest forever." 

The saintly Elizabeth Ann Seton, after years 
of spiritual wandering and tribulations, had 
found peace. Her father. Doctor Richard Bay- 
ley, born in Fairfield, Connecticut, an eminent 
physician, who was a surgeon in Howe's army 
in the Revolution, had endeared himself to Amer- 
icans by his tender care of the wretched and 
wounded American prisoners in the hands of the 
British after the battle of Long Island, and to 
New Yorkers by his services in securing the nec- 
essary legislation, and, while health officer, en- 
forcing proper quarantine regulations for the 
protection of the port. Elizabeth Seton's mother 
was Catherine Charlton, daughter of an Epis- 
copalian clergyman, rector of St. Ann's Church, 
Richmond, Staten Island. Elizabeth was born 
in New York, August 28th, 1774. She married 
William Magee Seton in her twentieth year, 
Bishop Samuel Provost performing the cere- 
mony in her father's home in John Street. Her 
father-in-law, WilHam Seton, an old and re- 
spected merchant of the city, welcomed the 
young couple to his home. No. 65 Stone Street. 

In the fall of 1794, they moved to No. 8 State 
Street, facing the Battery, the most fashionable 
promenade in the city, and in this home Eliza- 
beth Seton passed several happy years. Her 
summers were spent in Staten Island, or, if epi- 



444 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

demic threatened the j)eople of the city, at 
Bloomingdale. Her husband's faiUng health 
necessitated, in 1803, a EfUropean trip. He died 
in Pisa, December 27th, 1803. In her bereave- 
ment she experienced the greatest kindness from 
Phihp and Anthony Fihcchi, two patricians of 
Pisa. PhiUp, the elder brother, had traveled in 
the United States in 1785-6 and had met Will- 
iam Seton in New York. He had married an 
American woman, a Miss Cowley, and, having 
made a thorough study of American policies, re- 
sources and trade interests, he was appointed 
United States Consul General at Leghorn. Sev- 
eral years before his marriage. William Magee 
Seton made a tour of Italy, and at Pisa became 
the guest of his father's friend. Mrs. Seton and 
her children returned to New York in June, 
1804, and Anthony Filicchi accompanied them; 
" to be a protection to us," wrote Mrs. Seton, 
" he leaves his dear wife and children. He says 
this is due to all my dear Seton's love and friend- 
ship for him." For some time Mrs. Seton had 
been in a state of spiritual unrest and her friends, 
the Filicchis on the one hand and the Reverend 
Henry Hobart, of Trinity Church, on the other, 
labored zealously to restore her to spiritual peace. 
The outcome was her reception into the Catholic 
Church. Her family and her friends were hor- 
rified, and she was ostracized. The Filicchi 
brothers proved friends indeed. In the most 
delicate way they assisted her to support her five 
children. In May, 1805, she engaged with an 
Englishman and his wife to assist them in an 
English seminary they had established in the city. 
Only twelve pupils entered, and the seminary 



IN OLD NEW YORK 445 

ceased to exist. Archbishop Seton, in his 
" Memoir " of Mrs. Seton, says there was " con- 
siderable prejudice against a CathoHc teacher, 
and many cried out that she was a masked mis- 
sionary, a disturber of the peace of famiHes, a 
female Jesuit, and it required a vast deal of 
prudence and Christian forbearance to live at all 
among such people as those jaundiced Prot- 
estants. One of the most respectable among 
them told her plainly that a person might fre- 
quent the house of a professed Deist, but to con- 
sort with Catholics was perfectly horrifying." 

Catholic friends came to take the place of 
those who had abandoned her. Among them 
were Bishop Carroll and his intimate friends, 
James Barry, his wife and their daughter Ann, 
Father John Cheverus, pastor, and afterwards 
Bishop, of Boston, who died Cardinal Arch- 
bishop of Bordeaux, his assistant. Father Ma- 
tignon, the Abbe J. S. Tisserant, the Reverend 
Matthew O'Brien, the Reverend Doctor Michael 
Hurley, O.S.A., and the Very Reverend Louis 
William Valentine Dubourg, the President of 
St. Mary's College, Baltimore. These friends 
were divided in opinion as to the best course 
for Mrs. Seton. Some advised her to re- 
move to Montreal, others, among them Doctor 
Dubourg, urged her to make her home in Balti- 
more. She decided on Baltimore. For some 
time her desire had been to found a congregation 
of women to care for children and orphans, and 
after her arrival she was admitted to the three 
simple vows of religion by Bishop Carroll. At 
that time she adopted a semi-religious habit. 
With the money offering of a young convert a 



446 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

farm was bought at Emmetsburg, Maryland, 
and in June, 1806, JNIrs. Seton, her two sisters- 
in-law and one of the pious women who had 
joined the community, journeyed, partly by 
foot, partly in a great canvas-covered wain, to 
their new home on a spur of the Blue Ridge 
Mountains. 

The community prospered and pupils flocked 
to their school. Mother Seton, in 1811, adopted 
the rules and constitution of St. Vincent de Paul, 
and in the years that followed sent to various 
cities little bands of religious women to form 
communities therein. The sainted woman died 
in Emmetsburg, January 4th, 1821. The pro- 
cess of her beatification is being promoted by 
the Vincentian Fathers, who are collecting the 
data to place before the Ecclesiastical Court in 
Rome. 

The famous French General Jean Victor 
Moreau and his wife arrived in New York in 
December, 1804, and were enthusiastically re- 
ceived. He made his home No. 225 Broadway, 
but subsequently removed to No. 129 Pearl 
Street, Hanover Square. The house, built for 
Isaac Gouverneur in 1798, was regarded as one 
of the finest in the city, and was handsomely fur- 
nished for General Moreau's occupancy. " Here 
Moreau lived in grand style, entertaining like a 
Prince." During his stay in the city he was 
a busy man. In addition to his social duties he 
found time to dictate " The Life and Campaigns 
of Victor JNIoreau, Comprehending his Trial, 
Justification and Other Events, till the period 
of his Embarkation to the United States, by an 
Officer of the Staff*." General JNIoreau and an- 



IN OLD NEW YORK 447 

other distinguished Frenchman, Jean Guillaume, 
Baron Hyde de Neuville, who Hved at No. 61 
Dey Street, founded a school for French chil- 
dren, which was known as " L'Ecole Econom- 
ique." It is said that Father Cheverus, of Boston, 
was one of those who assisted the institution. De 
Witt Clinton was its president, Hyde de Neu- 
ville its secretary, and the Irish patriot. Doctor 
James McNevin, one of its board of managers. 
The school was located on Chapel Street (West 
Broadway), between Duane and Reade streets, 
and afterwards occupied a commodious building, 
surmounted by a belfry, with spacious grounds, 
on Anthony (Worth) Street. The institution 
had its own printing office, managed by Joseph 
Desnoues, an intimate friend of Thomas O'Con- 
nor's, and a printer of several Catholic works. 
It is related that every morning, when they were 
in the city, Moreau and Hyde de Neuville went 
to the school and lectured or examined the schol- 
ars. With the fall of Napoleon and the return 
of the emigres to France, the Economical School 
declined until Victor Bancel secured its " good 
will." Moreau was in the United States from 
'1804 until 1813. Born in Morlaix, France, 
August 11th, 1763, he was intended for the law 
and, graduating, had applied for admission to 
the bar, when the course of his career was 
changed by his election to the rank of Chief of 
the Rennois Volunteers in 1791. His rise was 
rapid. He was made Lieutenant- General in 
1794, and led an army through a brilliant cam- 
paign in Flanders. Two years later he com- 
manded the Army of the Rhine and JMoselle, and 
won a great victory at Heydienheim, but, his sup- 



448 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

plies having been cut oif , he conducted a mas- 
terly retreat between three hostile armies, with- 
out losing a gun or any of his 7,000 prisoners. 

The brilliant victories at Huningen and Ho- 
henlinden, and his successful campaigns in Italy 
and Germany, aroused the jealousy of Bona- 
parte, who had him accused of complicity with 
the Royalists. He was tried and, in 1804, sen- 
tenced to exile. He traveled extensively in Amer- 
ica, and lived for some time in a villa near Tren- 
ton, on the Delaware River. 

When hostilities began between the United 
States and Great Britain, in 1812, President 
Madison, it is said, offered General Moreau the 
command of the United States Army, but events 
in Europe determined him to ally himself wdth 
Russia and Prussia against Bonaparte. During 
the battle of Dresden, August 27th, 1813, he was 
mortally wounded. His remains are entombed in 
the Catholic Chapel in St. Petersburg. The dust 
of one of his children lies in St. Patrick's Church- 
yard, in Mulberry Street. Hyde de Neuville, 
Moreau's friend and companion in exile, came to 
America in 1806, and returned to France in 1814, 
returning to this country two years later as Min- 
ister and Consul General, and remaining in 
Washington until 1822. He was a very import- 
ant factor in the secret negotiations between the 
rivals for the French throne. When Bonaparte 
ruled as Consul, and in the early days of the Em- 
pire, De Neuville, under the name of Doctor Ro- 
land, practiced medicine in Lyons, and won a 
gold medal for his success in the propagation of 
vaccine. Among his other meritorious public 
services were his improvements in the French 



IN OLD NEW YORK 449 

colonial sj^stem and his prohibition of slave trade 
in the French American possessions. 

In the summer of 1805, two hundred and two 
deaths were the result of a yellow fever epidemic. 
The local clergy, worn out with ministering to the 
stricken, were reinforced by the Reverend Doctor 
Michael Hurley, O.S.A., of St. Augustine's 
Church, Philadelphia. The Abbe Sibourd was 
an assistant at St. Peter's at this time. 

Among the exiles of Erin who sought and 
found fame, fortune and happiness in the young 
Republic, in 1805, was Doctor William James 
MacNevin, a native of Galway, who had accumu- 
lated much experience in his forty-two years. At 
twelve he had been sent to his uncle. Baron 
O 'Kelly MacNevin, physician to the Empress 
Maria Theresa of Austria. Baron MacNevin 
entered him as a student at Prague, and he took 
his degree in medicine in the University of Vi- 
enna in 1784. Ireland called him, he returned to 
his native land, became one of the leaders of the 
United Irishmen, and, as a result, spent four of 
the best years of his life in British dungeons. 
Released in 1802, he hurried to France and en- 
listed in the Irish Legion, but, convinced that 
Bonaparte had no intention of sending an invad- 
ing arm}'' to Ireland, he sailed for the United 
States, and arrived in New York July 4th. He 
attained great distinction in the practice of his 
profession, and, in 1808, was appointed Profes- 
sor of Obstetrics in the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, and three years later to the chair of 
chemistry and materia medica. He established 
the first chemical laboratory in the city. In 1826, 
in conjunction with other distinguished i3hy- 



450 CA THOLIC FO T STEPS 

sicians, he founded a new medical school, and was 
oii its staff until 1830. Doctor MacNevin's ar- 
dent love for his native land never grew cold. He 
was President of the " Friends of Ireland," and 
his name was on the roll of every Irish society. 
He was a man of great learning, rare accom- 
jjlishments, and a linguist. Despite his profes- 
sional duties, he was a writer on medical, scien- 
tific and political subjects. Doctor MacNevin 
died in New York, July 12th, 1841. 

Francis Cooper, a Catholic of high standing 
in the community, was elected Member of As- 
sembly in 1806, but found his admission to that 
body barred by John Jay's naturalization oath, 
which, though annuled in 1801, was still required, 
and which no Catholic could conscientiously take. 
The trustees of St. Peter's prepared a petition 
to the Legislature, which was numerously signed. 
The obnoxious law was finally abrogated, and 
Mr. Cooper took his seat during the twenty-ninth 
session. He served in the Assembly in 1806-7-8 
and in 1809. 

A free school had been opened by Father 
William V. O'Brien some time prior to 1806, and 
in this year an act was passed approj)riating pub- 
lic money for the maintenance of St. Peter's 
free school. It was in this year that two persons 
met for the first time, in St. Peter's Church, and 
that meeting resulted in innumerable blessings 
to millions of the suffering and helpless. Mrs. 
Seton met the Very Reverend Louis Valentine 
Dubourg, and under his inspired guidance grew 
the resolve that resulted in the organization of 
the American Sisters of Charity. 

Father Dubourg was born in San Domingo, in 



IN OLD NEW YORK 451 

1766. He was a seminarian of St. Sulpice when 
the Revolution began, and embarked at a Span- 
ish port for the United States in 1794. The fol- 
lowing year, having completed his studies in Bal- 
timore, he was ordained. Two years later he was 
President of Georgetown College. After three 
years' service in that institution, he went to Cuba, 
and on his return opened St. Mary's College in 
Baltimore. He went to New Orleans, in 1812, 
as Administrator Apostolic of the diocese, and 
his efforts to arouse the patriotism of Louisian- 
ians against the invading British was warmly 
commended by General Andrew Jackson. 
Father Dubourg traveled to Rome, in 1815, to 
acquaint the authorities with the condition of the 
diocese, and while there was consecrated Bishop. 
On his homeward journey he visited France and 
obtained clerical recruits for the American mis- 
sion. He took a prominent part in the organiza- 
tion of the Association for the Propagation of 
the Faith. On his return to America, he made 
St. Louis his episcopal residence. For nine years 
he labored unremittingly in founding colleges, 
missions and convents, not forgetting the spir- 
itual and material interests of the Indians. In 
1824 he removed to New Orleans, and, two years 
later, to the great loss of the American mission, 
sailed for France and was transferred to the dio- 
cese of Montauban, leaving it in 1833 for the 
Archbishopric of Besan9on. He died within the 
year. 

The trustees of St. Peter's Church in this year 
were : Thomas Stoughton, Andrew Morris, Cor- 
nelius Heeney, Michael Roth, John Hoes, John 
Hinton and John Byrne. 



452 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

Three congenial spirits kept " batchelor's 
hall," in the opening year of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, over the fur store, No. 82 Water Street. 
They were Cornelius Heeney, an Irishman, the 
proprietor of the store, Francis Cooper, a Penn- 
sylvanian, and John George Gottsberger, an 
Austrian. The three were deeply interested in 
the concerns of St. Peter's Church, serving for 
some years as members of the Board of Trustees, 
Mr. Heeney as treasurer. He was the donor 
of the pews and gallery fittings. Both Messrs. 
Heeney and Cooper were interested in politics, 
and both served several terms in the Assembly. 
A native of Kings County, Ireland, Cornelius 
Heeney's mother died in his boyhood, and his 
father marrying again, Heeney decided to seek 
his fortune. He was given a home and employ- 
ment by a family named Fullard, not far from 
his native place, and, as he grew older, developed 
great business capabilities. Parting with his 
benefactors, he sailed for Philadelphia, and was 
shipwrecked in the Delaware. He landed in Phil- 
adelphia, thirty years of age and penniless. A 
Quaker named Meade gave him employment, but 
after three months he journeyed to New York 
and found a position as bookkeeper in the store 
of another Quaker, William Backhous, an Eng- 
lish furrier, at No. 40 Little Dock Street. In 
Heeney's native county. Kings, were a number 
of Quaker residents, and the most cordial rela- 
tions existed between them and their Catholic 
neighbors, hence Heeney was no stranger to the 
manners and customs of the people of that 
sect. 

There were two commercial geniuses in the 



IN OLD NEW YORK 453 

employ of JNIr. Backhous — Heeney, the book- 
keeper, and John Jacob Astor, the porter. Will- 
iam Backhous, determining to retire and return 
to England, gave his business to Heeney and 
Astor, and they conducted it prosperously for 
several years. When they separated, Astor con- 
tinued in the Little Dock Street store and Heeney 
located at No. 82 Water Street. Wealth flowed 
in upon him, and his disposition of it entitles him 
to be described as New York and Brooklyn's 
greatest Catholic philanthropist. It is estimated 
that his benefactions to church and charitable 
institutions in the early days of the New York 
diocese amounted to more than $60,000, regarded 
as a great fortune in those days. St. Peter's 
Church was a special object of his generosity, 
and his love for the old church prompted him, 
some years after, when he gave the ground for a 
site for St. Paul's Church, Brooklyn, to stipulate 
that it should architecturally conform to St. 
Peter's. For the establishment of the Prince 
Street orphanage he gave $18,000 and some prop- 
erty, and journeyed to Emmetsburg to appeal to 
his friend. Mother Seton, to send a band of her 
sisters to undertake the care of the little orphans. 
He and Andrew Morris took title to the site on 
Fifth Avenue now occupied by St. Patrick's 
Cathedral, which was purchased for a cemetery, 
November 5th, 1828, at a cost of $5,500. Mr. 
Heeney retired from business about 1835. He 
made his home in Brooklyn, in a large, double 
frame mansion, surrounded by seventeen acres 
of ground, for which he paid $7,500, in 1806, 
bounded by the present Congress, Amity and 
Court streets and the East River. From its win- 



454 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

(lows he could see the lower part of the city across 
the river that had been the scene of his commer- 
cial success. On the east side of the house was a 
great flower and vegetable garden, its plot sur- 
rounded by a carefully-kept box-hedge, and the 
lane that led to Henry Street was bordered with 
rows of Irish hawthorn that Mr. Heeney had 
imported from Ireland. The Fullards, who had 
given him a home in his boyhood, had been re- 
duced to poverty by domestic troubles and busi- 
ness reverses, and Mr. Heeney brought three sis- 
ters of the family, then advanced in years, to 
America, and installed one of them as his house- 
keeper. 

When the seminary at Nyack was destroyed 
by fire, in 1833, Mr. Heeney offered Bishop Du- 
bois a tract of land on the present Congress, Clin- 
ton Court and Warren streets for the institution. 
The excavation was made and stone gathered for 
the structure, but Mr. Heeney had strong con- 
victions in the matter of the rights of lay trustees, 
and the Bishop's convictions were equally as 
strong in opposition. They could not agree, and 
Mr. Heeney refused to give the Bishop clear 
title. The site was subsequently donated for a 
new church, and in time St. Paul's Church was 
erected. Mr. Heeney was a great lover of chil- 
dren, and house and grounds were enlivened by 
the prattle and play of the little ones. There 
was one ceremonial which all youthful visitors 
were compelled to observe. At the beginning 
and end of every visit each child was expected to 
enter the sitting-room and curtsey or bow to the 
quaint-looking little man seated in the large arm- 
chair. One small boy, John McCloskey, was 



IN OLD NEW YORK 455 

Mr. Heeney's ward. Long years after he be- 
came America's first Prince of the Church. 

The bulk of Mr. Heeney's income had been 
devoted to charity, and he determined that his 
fortune should be given to the poor, but, with his 
usual business sagacity, he arranged all the de- 
tails during his lifetime. The Legislature, at his 
request, passed an act, May 10th, 1845, incorpo- 
rating " The Trustees and Associates of the 
Brooklyn Benevolent Society." The act pro- 
vided that the corporation could take and hold by 
deed of gift from Cornelius Heeney parcels of 
land lying between Hicks, Columbia, Congress 
and Amity streets, and further real or personal 
estate conveyed to them, one-fifth of the income 
from the estate to be expended in supplying poor 
families, gratuitously, with fuel during the win- 
ter ; one-tenth to be used in the purchase of shoes, 
stockings and other articles of clothing for 
poor school children, and $250 a year as the 
salary of a teacher of spelling, writing, reading 
and arithmetic for poor children, the whole clear 
surplus to be applied solely to the support and 
education of poor orphan children between the 
ages of four and fourteen years. The income of 
the estate amounts to about $25,000 annually, 
and the expense of administering it is about five 
per cent. Since the Society's organization, more 
than $1,000,000 has been disbursed as Mr. 
Heeney directed. He personally interested him- 
self in the operations of the charity, attending a 
meeting for the last time March 27th, 1848. He 
died May 3rd following, and his remains were 
placed in a vault he had prepared in the rear of 
St. Paul's Church. 



456 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

In the early days of St. Peter's, it was evi- 
dently the custom to usher in the Feast of Our 
Lord's Nativity with midnight Mass, but, no 
doubt owing to the disorderly characters who pro- 
faned the solemnity, the midnight service was 
discontinued in 1806. On Christmas Eve the 
church was surrounded by a crowd of sight- 
seers and roughs, which became riotous when 
informed that the edifice would not be opened. 
The disorder was quelled by some members 
of the congregation. The next day the same 
element, known at that time as " High-Bind- 
ers," invaded Augusta Street (City Hall 
Place), chiefly populated by Catholic Irish, 
and assaulted several persons. A riot resulted, 
in which Christopher Neurwauger, a watchman, 
was killed, and several others injured. Mayor 
De Witt Clinton issued a proclamation offering 
a reward for information that would lead to the 
apprehension of the ringleaders of the disturb- 
ances and for the person or persons who killed 
Neurwauger. 

Among the early prominent Catholic laymen 
of the city were Benjamin Desobrey, a French 
emigre, whose business was at No. 261 William 
Street and No. 28 Pearl Street. He returned to 
France after the restoration of the Monarchy. 
Peter Burtsell, who lived for many years at 
No. 10 Wall Street, was an ancestor of the 
eminent Monsignor Burtsell and uncle of the 
Reverend James A. Neill, the first native son 
of New York to be admitted to the priesthood; 
M. Delonguemare, No. 32 William Street; Jo- 
seph Icard, a French merchant and an eminent 
architect. M. Icard's place of business was at 



IN OLD NEW YORK 457 

No. 14 Rector Street, and his home at No. 93 
Greenwich Street, afterwards at No. 308 Broad- 
way. In the dark days of the War of 1812 he 
subscribed $20,000 to a government loan. After 
the fall of Bonaparte he returned to France and 
amassed a fortune in public works; John R. 
Skiddy, a shipmaster, lived at No. 141 Front 
Street. Hugh McGinnis came from the north of 
Ireland to New York about 1798. He made and 
lost several fortunes, and at one time held the 
office of Tobacco Inspector. He served as a 
trustee of St. Peter's; Matthew Carroll, No. 78 
Vesey Street ; Thomas Fleming, with an office at 
No. 25 Broad Street; Garret Byrne, No. 23 Bed- 
loe Street; Dennis Doyle, who once owned the 
site of St. Patrick's Cathedral; Lawrence Gou- 
dain, of No. 30 Pearl Street ; Robert Fox, No. 76 
Water Street; Hugh O'Hara, No. 28 Bedloe 
Street; I. B. Durand, No. 114 Pearl Street; 
Dennis McCarty, No. 57 East George Street; 
John Corgan, No. 81 Catherine Street; Thomas 
Glover, No. 246 Pearl Street; Louis Laroue, 
No. 10 Roosevelt Street; Michael Roth, No. 
23 Partition Street; James Walsh, No. 14 
Skinner Street; Miles F. Clossey, No. 163 
Broadway; Anthony Trapani, a native of Meta, 
near Naples, was a pioneer of the great host 
of Italians who have since made the city their 
home. He was, it is said, the first foreigner 
to be naturalized after the ratification of the 
Constitution. He was an importer of fruit 
and cigars, at No. 139 Fly Market; Francis 
Varet came to the city from San Domingo about 
1797, and lived at No. 26 Reade Street. In 
1804 his store was at No. 112 Chatham Street. 



458 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

He was at one time the largest importer of silk in 
New York. 

Griffith's in his " Annals of Baltimore," says 
that the Catholic population of New York city, 
in 1807, was estimated at 14,000, " a large part 
of whom are refugees from St. Domingo and 
other islands." In this year Bernard Dornin, 
New York's first Catholic publisher, opened a 
book store and publishing business in No. 136 
Pearl Street. He issued, in 1807, an edition of 
Pastorini's " History of the Church." The New 
York city subscribers numbered 318. Two years 
later 144 New Yorkers subscribed for an edition 
of Fletcher on " Religion Controversy." Dor- 
nin subsequently carried on the Catholic publish- 
ing business in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and 
died in the latter city, in 1823. 

Father William V. O'Brien, in his sixty-eighth 
year, and broken in health because of his heroic 
and tireless ministrations to the sick and dying 
during the yellow fever epidemics of 1795 and 
1798, was unable to cope with the great pressing 
problems that grew with the growth of Catholic- 
ity in the city. Father Matthew O'Brien, his de- 
voted brother and assistant, hourly occupied with 
ministering to his immense charge, had not the 
time to solve problems. St. Peter's held the 
faithful in the downtown district, but the con- 
stantly growing Catholic population in the sub- 
urbs was in urgent need of spiritual guidance. 
Priests and laity were filled with joy, therefore, 
when, in the summer of 1808, the great news 
reached the United States that Pope Pius VII 
had, by his Bulls of April 8th, divided the diocese 
of Baltimore, and erected the Sees of New York, 




BISHOP RICHARD LUKE CONCANEN 



IN OLD NEW YORK 459 

Philadelphia, Boston and Bardstown, Kentucky. 
The learned Dominican, Father Richard Luke 
Concanen, had been appointed Bishop of New 
York, and it was announced that he would bring 
with him to America a Brief and the Pallium for 
John Carroll, the patriot, who had been made 
Archbishop of Baltimore. It was with great 
reluctance that the student monk was reconciled 
to wearing the miter. He was consecrated with 
great pomp in the Church of the Nuns of St. 
Catherine, at Rome, April 24th, 1808, by Car- 
dinal de Pietro, and left for Leghorn to take 
passage for New York. The disturbed condition 
of the country, owing to the Napoleonic wars and 
the sequestration of American ships by the 
French, made it impossible for him to sail. The 
anxiety of two years' fruitless endeavor to reach 
his diocese proved too much for him, weakened 
by a protracted illness, and he died in Naples, 
June 19th, 1810. As day succeeded day, and 
the eagerly-expected Bishop did not arrive in his 
diocese, the joy caused by the news of his ap- 
pointment turned to something like dismay. 
There was urgent need of a head to direct the 
faithful, whose numbers were increased by every 
emigrant ship that entered the bay. The knowl- 
edge of these conditions added to the anxiety and 
grief of Bishop Concanen, and prompted him 
to send to Archbishop Carroll a general authority 
over ecclesiastical matters in the New York dio- 
cese. 

Whenever, in the early history of New York, 
the Catholics needed assistance, one of the Soci- • 
ety of Jesus hurried to their aid. They were the 
ministers, often at the peril of their lives, to the 



460 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

first of the faithful to settle here; they organized 
the first congregation, and one of them was sent 
by Archbishop Carroll to organize the diocese. 
In December, 1808, the Jesuit Father Anthony 
Kohlmann came to the city. He was a French- 
man, thirty-seven years old, a graduate of the 
Colleges of Colmar and Freiburg. After his 
ordination, in 1796, he joined the Society of the 
Sacred Heart. Driven from Belgium by the 
Revolution, he settled at Hagenbrunn, Austria. 
During an epidemic in 1799, he was called the 
" Martyr of Charity " by the sufferers because 
of his self-sacrificing zeal in their behalf. Next 
he is found nursing sick soldiers in Italy, after- 
wards president of a college in Bavaria, and later 
of a college in Holland. On the re-establishment 
of the Jesuit order he joined it, and, coming to 
America in 1806, was appointed a visitor to the 
congregations in Pennsylvania. Two years later 
he was transferred to the diocese of New York 
and was appointed, under Archbishop Carroll's 
authority from Bishop Concanen, Vicar-Gen- 
eral and Administrator. Father Kohlmann ar- 
rived in the city at a time of great commercial 
depression, produced by the passage by Con- 
gress, December 22nd, 1807, at the recommenda- 
tion of President JeiFerson, of an act prohibiting 
the departure from United States ports of all 
cargo-laden vessels. This embargo was repealed 
by an act of February 27th, 1809. During the 
first three months of its enforcement 500 ships 
were tied at the New York wharves, there were 
120 business failures, amounting to $5,000,000, 
and thousands were unemployed. The popula- 
tion of the city numbered about 85,000. The 



IN OLD NEW YORK 461 

number of inhabitants had trebled in twenty- 
years, and the improvements had kept pace with 
the growth of the population. 

Broadway from the Battery for a mile and a 
half was lined with, for that day, lofty red brick 
buildings, chiefly dwellings near the Battery, 
and large stores further up the thoroughfare. 
Its brick-paved walks were shaded by trees, and 
the roadway was well-paved. Between Broad- 
way and the Bowery road were unfinished streets 
and detached buildings. The City Hotel, on 
Broadway, its grade floor occupied by well- 
stocked stores, was one of the most imposing 
buildings in the city. Mechanic Hall, at the cor- 
ner of Broadway and Robinson Street, was an- 
other fine structure. On Broadway, corner of 
Rector Street, Grace Episcopal Church, a plain 
brick edifice, had been erected recently. Facing 
Bowling Green, with its pedestal from which the 
patriots had pulled down the statue of George 
III, stood the Government House, erected as an 
executive mansion on the site of the old fort, at 
this time occupied as a custom house, and one 
hundred years later to be occupied by a marble 
palace devoted to the same purpose. The City 
Hall, formerly Federal HaU, on Wall Street, 
had grown old, shaky and inadequate to accom- 
modate the public departments of the growing 
city's government. The corner stone of a new 
City Hall, destined to be one of the most admired 
buildings for many a day in the United States, 
was laid on the Park, or Common, in May, 1803. 
Ten years elapsed before the completion of the 
edifice. Facing the Park, or Common, were Me- 
chanic Hall, the theater and some of the best' 



462 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

dwellings in the city. In the Park were flourish- 
ing elm, plane, willow and catalpa trees, and the 
sidewalks on Broadway and Chatham Street, 
bounding the Park, were bordered with rows of 
stately poplars. The theater, with a seating 
capacity of 1,200, was unfinished, exteriorly, but 
so handsomely decorated and appointed within 
as to vie with London's favorite playhouses. All 
the London successes were reproduced on the 
New York boards, and several of Shakespeare's 
plays. " The only fault is," wrote a visitor to 
the city, " that they are too much curtailed, by 
which they often lose their effect; and the per- 
formances are sometimes over by half past ten, 
though they do not begin at an earlier hour than 
in London." The New Yorkers of that day be- 
lieved in keeping early hours. 

In the summer the Vauxhall and Ranelagh 
gardens, with their band concerts and theatrical 
and fireworks exhibitions, were favorite resorts. 
There were thirty-four churches in the city, 
five banks and nine insurance companies. Every 
day except Sunday was market day, and the 
Exchange, Fly, Oswego, Bear, Catherine Slip 
and New Markets were busy centers of bar- 
ter and sale. Thirty-one charitable and benevo- 
lent organizations took care of the poor and un- 
fortunate. Twenty newspapers and magazines 
were published, and on Nassau Street, between 
Cedar Street and Liberty Street, was a public 
library of about ten thousand volumes, besides 
three or four public reading rooms and several 
subscription circulating libraries. The ordinary 
cost of carrying on the city government, about 
this time, was $176,000. Prior to the passage of 



IN OLD NEW YORK 463 

the Embargo Act, the older section of the city, 
with its wharves Hned with shipping, its narrow 
streets, crowded with drays and pedestrians, its 
warehouses, counting houses and coffee houses, 
had been the busiest section in the new world. 

Within the twenty years prior to 1808, every- 
thing in New York had grown and improved 
with the growth of the population except the 
Catholic Church organization, and this Father 
Kohlmann had been sent to regulate and direct. 
He found about fourteen thousand Catholics, one 
church edifice, burdened with debt ; a graveyard ; 
a parochial school, with about 100 pupils, that 
would probably have ceased to exist if it had not 
been assisted with public funds. Such was the 
condition of the diocese when Father Kohlmann 
came to New York, and through his heroic 
labors and those of his co-worker. Father Fen- 
wick, erected St. Patrick's pro-Cathedral and 
established the New York Literary Institution 
on what is now the corner of Fifth Avenue and 
Fiftieth Street. On that corner, from the pul- 
pit of St. Patrick's Cathedral, His Grace John 
M. Farley, the beloved Archbishop of New 
York, announced, Sunday, February 2nd, 1908, 
the arrangements for the celebration of the 
centenary of the establishment of the diocese. 
He reminded his hearers that the present num- 
ber of Catholics in the archdiocese was 1,200,- 
000. That the churches in the archdiocese num- 
bered 310. That the four priests ministering to 
the faithful in 1808 had increased to 855 in 1908. 
One hundred and thirty parochial schools were re- 
quired to accommodate the pupils that one school 
could house one hundred years ago. " Beloved 



464 CATHOLIC FOOTSTEPS 

brethren," said His Grace, " what heroic sacri- 
fice all this implies I need not say to you who are 
the descendants of the men and women who made 
all these things possible by their self-denial in 
order that God's Church might grow, that His 
holy Faith might be known to all men, that 
it might be preserved to their children, that 
His Kingdom might be established and His holy 
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. This 
noble spirit of sacrifice for God's sake is what has 
brought such abundant blessings on the Church 
during these one hundred years past." 



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466 BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. 

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Hessians and the Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in 
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Historic and Antiquarian Scenes in Brooklyn and Its Vicinity. 
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Historic Neio York. 2 vols. Half Moon Papers. New York, 
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Historical Account of the Incorporated Society for the Propa- 
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Historical Sketch of Trinity Church, New York. Rev. William 
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History of Acadia. James Hannay. St. John, N. B., 1879. 

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History of Don Francisco de Miranda's Attempt to Effect a Revo- 
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History of Long Island. 3 vols. Peter Ross, LL.D. New York 
and Chicago, 1905. 

History of Long Island. Benjamin F. Thompson. New York, 
1839. 



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History of Neio France. Rev. P. F. Charlevoix, S. J. John 

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History of New Netherland. 2 vols. E. B. O'Callaghan, M.D. 

New York. 
History of New York. Wm. Smith, A.M. Albany, 1814. 
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History of Neiv York City. Benson J. Lossing. New York, 1884. 
History of New York City. William L. Stone. New York, 18T2. 
History of Neio York During the Revolutionary War. Thomas 

Jones. New York, 1879. 
History of Roman Catholicism in North America. Rev. Xavier 

Donald MacLeod. New York. 
History of the British Army. 2 vols. Hon. J. W. Fortescue. 

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History of the Catholic Church in the Netv England States. 2 

vols. Boston, 1899. 
History of the Catholic Church in the United States. Henry De 

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History of the Catholic Church in the United States. 4 vols. 

John Gilmary Shea. New York, 1886. 
History of the Catholic Missions Among the Indian Tribes in the 

United States. John Gilmary Shea. New York, 1882. 
History of the City of Brooklyn. 3 vols. H. R. Stiles. Brooklyn, 

N. Y., 1869. 
History of the City of New York. Mary L. Booth. New York, 

1866. 
History of the City of Neio York. 3 vols. Mrs. Martha J. Lamb. 

New York and Chicago, 1877. 
History of the City of New York. David F. Valentine. New 

York, 1853. 
History of the Irish Settlers in North America. Thomas D'Arcy 

McGee. Boston, 1853. 
History of the Navy of the United States of America. 2 vols. 

J. Fenimore Cooper. Philadelphia, 1840. 
History of the Parish of Trinity Church. 4 vols. Rev. J. Morgan 

Dix, D.D. New York. 
History of the Public School Society of the City of New York. 

Wm. Oland Bourne, A.M. New York, 1870. 
History of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. 

Rt. Rev. Thomas O'Gorman. New York, 1897. 
History of the State of New York. 2 vols. John Romeyn Brod- 

head. New York, 1853. 
History of the State of New York. F. S. Eastman. New York, 

1831. 
History of the State of New York. S. S. Randall. New York, 

1870. 
History of the Tammany Society. E. Vale Blake. New York, 

1901. 
History of the United States. 10 vols. Geo. Bancroft. Boston, 

1870. 
Indian Biography. Samuel G. Drake. Boston, 1832. 
In Old New York. Thomas A. Janvier. New York, 1903. 



468 BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. 

In Olde New York. Charles Burr Todd. New York, 1907. 
Irish in America. John Francis Maguire. New York, 1868. 
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Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (The). Reuben Gold. 

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Journal of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Baltimore, Md., 1845. 
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Journal of the First Session of the Senate of the United States. 

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(First Session.) New York, N. D. 
Journal of the Legislative Council of the Colony of New York, 

1691-1743. Albany, 1861. 
Landmark History of New York. Albert Ulmann. New York, 

1901. 
La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West. Francis Parkman. 

Boston, 1900. 
Life and Administration of Richard, Earl of Bellomont. Fred- 
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History of New York City. William L. Stone. New York. 1872. 
Life of Cardinal Cheverus. Rev. J. Huen Dubourg. Boston, 

1839. 
Life of Father Isaac Jogues. Rev. Felix Martin, S. J. New 

York, 1885. 
Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton. Rev. Chas. A. White, D.D. New 

York, 1893. 
Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in 

the United States. Richard H. Clarke. New York, 1873-1886. 
Local Catholic History. Thomas F. Meehan in The Catholic 

News. 1907-8. 
Magazine of American History. New York. 

Manuals of the Corporation of the City of New York. New York. 
Maple Leaves. 1894. Sir J. M. Le Moine. Quebec, 1894. 
Market Book (The). Thomas F. De Voe, New York. 
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Rev. Robert H. Seton. New York, 1869. 
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Memoirs of the Prince De Talleyrand. 5 vols. Due de Broglie. 

New York and London. 1892. 
Memorial History of the City of New York. 4 vols. James Grant 

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Men and Times of the Revolution. Elkanah Watson. New York, 

1861. 
Military Journal During the American Revohitionary War, front 

1775 to 1783. James Thacher, M.D. Hartford, 1854. 
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More Colonial Homesteads and Their Stories. Marion Harland. 

New York and London, 1899. 
Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 vols. Justin Win- 

sor. Editor, New York and Boston. 1887. 



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Narrative of Events at Lake George. B. F. De Costa. New 

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New Amsterdam and Its People. J. H. Innes. New York, 1902. 
New France and New England. John Fiske. Boston and New 

York, 1904. 
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1887. 
New York. Theodore Roosevelt. New York, 1891. 
New York City During the American Revolution. New York, 

1861. 
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Horsmanden. New York, 1810. 
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Philadelphia and London, 1903. 
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Nooks and Corners of Old New York. Charles Hemstreet. New 

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Old Merchants of New York City. 5 vols. Walter Barrett (Sco- 

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Old Catholic Maryland and Its Early Jesuit Missionaries. Rev. 

W. P. Tracy. Swedesboro, N. J. 
Old New York. John W. Francis, M.D. New York, 1886. 
Old New York. Pasco. 
Old New York Frontier. Francis Whiting Halsey. New York, 

1901. 
Old Regime in Canada. Francis Parkman. Boston, 1899. 
Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, 2 vols. Benjamin J. 

Lossing. New York, 1851. 
Pioneers of France in the New World. Francis Parkman. Bos- 
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Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties. H. On- 

derdonk. 1849. 
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1897. 



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MANUSCRIPTS 

The following manuscripts have aflForded much material not 
heretofore in print: 
Council Minutes, 1668-1783. New York. State Library, Albany, 

N. Y. 
New York Colonial Manuscripts. 103 volumes. New York State 

Library, Albany, N. Y. 



INDEX 



Acadia, now Nova Scotia, 
passed three times from pos- 
session of France to England, 
319; Acadians refuse to take 
oath of allegiance to Eng- 
land, 319; Bretons incite In- 
dians to attack, 319; 18,000 
souls deported, 318, 319; ar- 
rive in N. Y., sent to Staten 
Island, 320; children farmed 
out, 320; families scattered, 
320. 

AcADiAxs seen in N. Y., 317; 
thirty families dispersed in 
province, 317; land on L. I., 
327; imprisoned, 322. 

AccoMAC (Va.), 40, 77. 

Albany, N. Y., ancient ruin 
near, 11; Dutch Catholic sol- 
diers sent to, 15, 16; Father 
Jogues again at, 36; F. Bres- 
sani ransomed at, 43, 77, 78, 
80, 88, 91 ; Dongan grants 
charter to, 100; Fathers Har- 
vey, Harrison and Gage in, 
102, 120, 122; Albanians re- 
fuse to recognize Leisler's au- 
thority, 151, 155, 214, 343. 

Albany County, 145. 

Alfonso V., King of Portugal, 
85. 

Algonquins, 22, 23, 42. 

Alien Freemen, crimes against, 
72. 

Allefonsce, or Alphonse, 
Jean, Roberval's chief pilot, 
12; explores L. I. Sound, 12, 
13; sketch of, 12. 

Allyn, John, Secretary of 
Connecticut, warns against 
Catholics, 137, 153, 159, 164, 
165. 

Altham, S.J., Father John, 
34. 

Amsterdam, 114. 



Andastes Tribe, 23. 

Anderson, Henry James, sketch 
of, 429, 430. 

Andros, Governor Sir Edmund, 
arrives in N. Y., 66; comes to 
take possession of New Neth- 
erland, 66, 67, 69; sails for 
England, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78; 
successor appointed, 80; suc- 
ceeds Dongan, 108, 112, 117; 
imprisoned in Boston, 118, 
158. 

Andros, Lady Mary, 66. 

Angel, Pablo Ventura, Cath- 
olic Spanish negro, tried for 
conspiracy, 267. 

Anguileme, 8. 

Anne of Austria, 35. 

Anne, Queen of England, 
grants King's Farm to Trin- 
ity Church, 96. 

Ann Street, 107. 

Anorumbega, 11. 

Areskoui, Indian god, 31. 

Arundel, Dohichey, French 
officer in American army, 349 ; 
object of anti-Catholic big- 
otry, 349; killed at Gwynne's 
Island, 349; General Lee's 
panegyric of, 349. 

Assembly, General, 88, 89; 
elected by people, 90; enact- 
ments, 90, 91 ; adopts Charter 
of Liberties, 91 ; passes thirty- 
two laws, 96; refuses appro- 
priation to feed prisoners, 
238; act for preventing the 
conspiracy of slaves passed^ 
240. 

Atlantic Ocean, 22. 

Anticosti, Island of, 20. 

Auchmuty, Reverend Samuel, 
D.D., preaches in Trinity 
against " Popery," 316. 

AuaiESViLLE, 36. 



472 



INDEX 



Ayllon, de, 11. 

" Babylon," F. Jogues terms 
Indian village, 31. 

B ADA JOS, 10. 

Bandol, Father Seraphix, 
sketch of, 354, 355; in N. Y., 
366, 368; says Mass at Span- 
ish and French embassies, 
369; sails for France, 386. 

Baubadoes, 133. 

Barclay Street, 332. 

Barkwell, George, 396, 408, 
431. 

Barre, Governor Lefebvre de 
LA, 78, 95, 97. 

Barrington, Luke, a convert, 
jailed, 265; escapes, 265. 

Barry, James, and family 
friends of Bishop Carroll and 
Mrs. Seton, 445. 

Barry, John, Commodore Am- 
erican Navy, 361; fights last 
battle of Revolutionary War, 
361 ; in N. Y., 361 ; sketch of, 
362; suggested establishment 
of Navy yards, 365; death of. 

Battery, The, 17, 339, 389. 

Baxter, Captain Jervis, a 
Catholic appointed Councilor, 
98, 106; asks leave to with- 
draw from province, 125; 
joins Col. Dongan at Mon- 
mouth, 125. 

Baxter Street, 11. 

Bayard Nicholas, 109,112,124; 
denounced as " Papist," 136, 
153, 154; warrant for arrest 
of, 157, 158. 

Bayley, Dr. Richard, health 
officer, port of N. Y., 433; 
cares for Irish immigrants, 
433; sketch of, 443. 

Beaubassin, Lieut. Alexander 
le Neuf, la Valliere, Sieur 
de, in N. Y. with prisoners 
for exchange, 309, 310. 

Beauharnois, Charles de la 
Brische, Marquis de, Gover- 
nor of New France, 310. 

Beaujolais, Comte de, in N. Y., 
422. 



Beaumet, M., in N. Y., 416, 417, 
418. 

Beaver Street, 78. 

Beekman, Burgomaster Wil- 
LEM, 66, 87. 

Belair, Sieur Nadeau de, 331. 

Bellomont, Earl of. Governor 
of N. Y., sketch of, 198, 199; 
discovers alleged Huguenots 
to be Catholics, 200; proposes 
stratagem to capture Jesuits, 
302; his contempt for New 
Yorkers, 203; forces adoption 
of law against priests, 210; 
urges sending to Indians mis- 
sionaries able to compete 
with Jesuits, 212; his rela- 
tions with Captain Kidd, 213; 
death of, 214. 

Berard, John, with wife and 
slave seek refuge in N. Y., 
413. 

Bernard, Chevalier, Canadian 
prisoner of war in N. Y., 326. 

Bernier, Lieutenant de, of 
Royal Swedish Regiment, is 
carried a prisoner to N. Y., 
317; wounded at Lake George, 
317 ; restrained within bounds, 
317; sails to England, 317; 
returns to New France, 317; 
in charge of military hospital, 
317; intermediary between 
French and British, 318; re- 
turns to France, 318. 

Beverswyck. (See Albany.) 

BiLLOP, Lieutenant Christo- 
pher, QQ. 

Blackwell, John, Governor of 
Penn., 117. 

BlauvelTj Captain, 16. 

Block Island, 8. 

Board of Aldermen, 118. 

Bogardus, Dominie, Everardus, 
19. 

Bolting Privilege, 79; Dongan 
confirms, 94; disallowed by 
Leisler, 161. 

Bombay (India), 85. 

Bonaparte, Charles Joseph, 
442. 

Bonaparte, Jerome, in N. Y. 



INDEX 



473 



with his bride, 439 ; his career, 
439, 440, 441, 442. 

BoxNEATJ, Captain, Canadian, 
prisoner of war in N. Y., 336. 

Boston (Mass.), Plowden in, 
41, 83, 133, 314. 

Boston Road, 117, 137, 157. 

Boucher, de la Perriere, 
French officer in N. Y., 238. 

Bougie, Charles de. Judge of 
Martinique in N. Y., 305. 

Bourdon, Sieur Jean, 97; 
sketch of, 97. 

Bouteroue, M'd'lle de, 57. 

Bouviat, with D'Aux, on em- 
bassy to Indians, 188. 

Bowling Green, 80. 

Bowne, Captain John, 124, 
125, 136. 

Bradford, William (Printer), 
tells Rev. J. Talbot of rise of 
Catholicity in Philadelphia, 
219. 

Brazil, 13. 

Brebeuf, S.J., Father John, 
23, 44. 

Brehon, Marquise de, arrives 
in N. Y., 386; sketch of, 386; 
American comments on, 386, 
387. 

Bressani, S.J., Father Fran- 
cis Joseph, comes to New 
Amsterdam, 43; captured by 
Mohawks and tortured, 43, 
43; received in Rome by Pope 
Innocent X, 44; returns to 
Canadian mission, 44; death, 
44. 

Bressoles, Lieut.-Col. M. Gil- 
bert DE, 359. 

Brtand, Jean Oliver, Bishop 
OF Quebec, loyal to Great 
Britain, 340; forbids inter- 
course with F. Carroll, 344; 
silences F. Floquet, 344. 

Bridge Street, 48. 

Brissot de Warville, 387, 412; 
critizes emigres attitude to- 
wards Americans, 412. 

British Navy, 82. 

Broad Street, 49, 80, 332. 

Broadway, formerly Heere- 



Straat, 51, 79, 107, 146, 345, 
461. 

Brockholls, Anthony, of old 
English Catholic family, 68; 
arrives in N. Y., 66; second 
in command to Andros, 68; 
sketch of, 68, 69; governs as 
Commander-in-Chief, 69, 70, 
71; in command of province, 
72, 73; succeeds Salisbury in 
Albany, 74, 75; appointed 
Receiver-General, 76; mar- 
ries, 76, 77, 78; children bap- 
tized in Dutch Reformed 
Church, 76; his Catholicity, 
78; house in Brouwer's 
Straat, 80, 88; at Pemaquid, 
117, 122, 135; arrested and 
liberated, 137; vote chal- 
lenged, 153; in N. Y., 1694, 
195; not permitted to vote, 
195; accounts audited, 195; 
obtains land patent at Pomp- 
ton Plains, N. J., 195; Schuy- 
ler on, 195; settles at Pomp- 
ton, 196; date of death 
unknown, 196; will offered 
for probate, 196; children, 
196. 

Brookha^t:n, L. I., 83. 

Brooklyn (Breukelen), Cath- 
olic fined in, 58, 83. 

Brooklyn Benevolent Society, 
founded by Cornelius Heeney, 
455. 

Brooklyn Ferry, 80; granted 
to N. Y. City, 93, 158, 78; 
Acadians imprisoned at, 322. 

Brouwer's Straat, 80. 

Bruyas, S.J., Father James, 
corresponds with Brockholls, 
72. 

Buckmaster, Edward, 113, 134, 
137, 165. 

Burke, ^danus, 398; in Con- 
gress, 398; sketch of, 403, 
404. 

Burke, Gibbon, 396. 

Burke, Father Nicholas (or 
Michael), substitutes in St. 
Peter's, 411. 

Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of 



474 



INDEX 



Salisbury (Anglicax), Leis- 
ler corresponds with, 160. 

Burnet, Gov. William, arrives 
in N. Y., 246; address of 
Legislature to, 246, 247. 

BuRTSELL, Peter, 456. 

BusHWicK, L. I., 83. 

Byrne, Garrett, 457. 

Byrne, John, 451. 

Caso de Arenas (See Sandy 
Hook). 

Cabo de S. Maria, 7. (Sandy 
Hook.) 

Cabot, John, 61. 

Cadillac de la Mothe, charted 
waters of N. Y. harbor, 187; 
unites with Frontenac in 
planning capture of N. Y., 
187. 

Cadiz, 3. 

Caffiniere, Admiral, 187. 

Callieres, Chevalier Hector 
de Bennevue, 187. 

Calvinists, 15; in New Am- 
sterdam, 34. 

Campeachy, Bay of, 73. 

Canada, 19, 20, 22, 335, 337; 
sentiment changes toward in- 
vading Americans, 340; 
" Fourteenth Colony " lost, 
344; religious division of 
population, 344. 

Canarsie Tribe, 83. 

Cape Cod, 8. 

Cape May, 38. 

Cape St. Vincent, 4. 

Cape Tourmente, 20. 

Cape Tralfagar, 3. 

Capske, The, 17. 

Carey, Matthew, issues first 
edition of Douay Bible in 
Philadelphia, 408; calls a 
meeting of American pub- 
lishers in N. Y., 435; sketch 
of, 435, 436, 437. 

Carroll, Archbishop John, 
praises zeal of Father Farmer, 
338; requested to accompany 
Congressional Committee to 
Canada, 341; sketch of, 342; 
arrives in N. Y., 342; letter of, 
describing conditions in N. Y., 



343; arrival of commission in 
Canada, 344; Canadian mis- 
sion a failure; accompanies 
Franklin home, 344; ap- 
pointed Superior of American 
mission on Franklin's recom- 
mendation, 345, 368, 375; ex- 
tract from letter to Trustees 
of St. Peter's Church, 375; 
extract from letter to Father 
Plowden, 377, 378, 380, 381, 
382; says Mass at Spanish 
Embassy, 383; pamphlet at- 
tacking, 405 ; consecrated 
Bishop, 409; Archbishop of 
Baltimore, 459; Bishop Con- 
canen gives him general au- 
thority over N. Y. diocese, 
459; sends F. Kohlmann, S.J., 
to organize diocese, 460; ap- 
points him Vicar - General, 
460. 

Carroll, of Carrollton, 
Charles, on committee to 
Canada, 341; sketch of, 342; 
arrives in N. Y., 342; extract 
from journal, 343; arrives in 
Canada, 344; extract from 
journal, in N. Y., 398; U. S. 
Senator, 398, 406, 407. 

Carroll, Daniel, in N. Y., 398; 
representative in Congress, 
398; sketch of, 398, 406, 407. 

Carroll, Matthew, 457. 

Carteret, Lady, 77. 

Carteret, Sir Philip, 66. 

Casco (Portland), 60; destruc- 
tion of, 188. 

Cataracouy, 188. 

Catherine, of Braganza, 85. 

Catherine Street, 332. 

Catholics, among Dutch sol- 
diers on Manhattan Island, 
16; bulk of population of 
France, 16; few Non-Cath- 
olics in Spain, 16; liberty 
of worship forbidden, 183; 
proposed disposal of Cath- 
olics in N. Y., 187; op- 
pressive enactments against 
190, 191; hatred of, "incul- 
cated by Church and State," 
250; Wm. Livingstone's opin- 



INDEX 



475 



ion of, 314, 315; many Cath- 
olics in regiments in N. Y., 

316, 332; F. Hunter in N. Y., 

333; interments of, 433; 

population of N. Y., 458. 
Caughnawaga, 103. 
Catjmoxt, Louis Stephen^ ie 

CouTEULx, in N. Y., 379; 

sketch of, 379. 
Cavalier, John, 79; Catholic 

in N. Y. 1694, 195; office 

holder under Dongan, 196. 
Cavaxagh, Thomas, 431. 
Caylus, Marquis de, Governor 

of Martinique, 298, 299. 
Cayuga Nation, 23, 57. 
Celbridge, Ireland, Dongan's 

birthplace, 83. 
Chabot, Philipe, 9. 
Chamboult, De, Canadian, 

prisoner in N. Y., 339. 
Chambre, M. de la, visits N. 

Y., 73. 
Champlain, Samuel de, 12, 23. 
Charles I, King of England, 

grant to Plowden, 37. 
Charles II, King of England, 

2, 61 ; reaffirms grant to Duke 

of York, 66, 77, 84, 85; death 

of, 99. 
Charlevoix, S. J., P.F.X., on 

Hertel, 58. 
Charter of Liberties signed by 

Dongan, 9; disallowed by 

James II., 101. 
Chase, Samuel, on committee 

to Canada, 341. 
Chastelaixe, S. J., Father 

Peter, 20, 24. 
Chastellux, Marouis de, 360. 
Chateaubriand, Francois Au- 

guste Viscount de, visits N. 

Y., 410; sketch of, 410, 411. 
Chaumonot, S. J., Father 

Peter, J. M., 24. 
Chesapeake Bay, Verrazano 

misses mouth of, 6, 34. 
Chesnaye, Charles Aubert, 

petitions for trade license, 

100. 
Cheverus, Father John, 445. 
Chicheley, Sir Henry, Gov. 

of Virginia, 77. 



CiiiLDs, Francis, 408. 

Choiseuil, Count de, arrives in 
city, 330. 

Churcher, William, 129, 137. 

Church Street, 51, 332. 

City Hall, 79, 86, 87, 91 ; Don- 
gan charter in, 100; affray at, 
138, 139, 140; troops quar- 
tered in, 173; description of 
new, 257, 332. 

Clarke, George, Lieutenant- 
Gov., his character, 250; 
offers reward for incen- 
diaries, 256; issues proclama- 
tion on alleged conspiracy, 
259. 

Clarkson, Matthew, appointed 
Secretary of N. Y., 154. 

Classis of Alkjiaer, Megapo- 
lensis sent out by, 18. 

Classis of Amsterdam, extract 
from letters of Megapolensis 
and Dresius to, concerning 
Jesuits, 55; letters to, con- 
cerning Catholics, 78; letters 
to, from Dominies Selyns, 
Dellius and Varick concern- 
ing Leisler troubles; letter 
from D. Selyns to, 194; Dom- 
inies still writing to, concern- 
ing Jesuit school in N. Y., 
201. 

Clavaer, Captain, brings Span- 
ish prize to N. Y., 216. 

Cliff Street, 335. 

Clifton, Lieutenant- Colonel 
Alfred, Lieut. -Colonel of R. 
C. Volunteers, 355; sketch of, 
356. 

Clinton, Admiral George, Gov. 
of N. Y., 289. 

Clossey, Miles F., 457. 

COLDEN, LlEUT.-GoV. CaDWAL- 

lader, refuses to release Aca- 
dians, 331. 

Colerus, Major Cretien, 
French officer in American 
army, 349. 

CoLiGNY, Admiral, 13. 

Colin, an interpreter, 18S; 
burned, 188. 

Colonial Council adopts reso- 
lution against Indian slavery, 



476 



INDEX 



73; urges Leisler's execution, 
183. 

Columbia College (see also 
King's), legislature makes it 
non-sectarian, 385, 439. 

CoLVE, Gov. AxTHONY, delivcrs 
New Orange to English, Q5, 
66; absolves Dutch from alle- 
giance, 67; sails from N. Y., 
67. 

Committee of Safety, 145, 151 ; 
assemblage renews fealty to, 
154. 

Common Council, 118, 307. 

CoNCANEN, Bishop Richard 
Luke, appointed Bishop of 
N. Y., 459; consecrated in 
Rome, 459; unable to sail for 
America, 459; grants general 
authority to Archbishop Car- 
roll over diocese, 459; dies 
before reaching America, 
459. 

Coney Island, 119, 134, 314. 

Connecticut claims N. Y. ter- 
ritory, 77, 80, 93, 134; loans 
cannon and men to Leisler, 
145 ; delegates warning 
against " Popery," 145, 146 ; 
recalls troops from N. Y., 
153, 338. 

Congressional Congress, 335 ; 
address people of Great Bri- 
tain, 336; address inhabitants 
of Quebec, 336, 337; Cana- 
dians denounce it as " perfi- 
dious and double-faced," 341 ; 
sends committee to Canada, 
341. 

CooDE, John, 117, 160. 

CooLEY, John, Catholic in N. 
Y. in 1694, 196; blacksmith 
in fort until 1700, 196. 

Cooper, Francis, elected to As- 
sembly 450,453; trustee of 
St. Peter's Church, 453. 

CooTE Richard. (See Bello- 
mont. Earl of.) 

CoRCHAUG Tribe, 83. 

Corgan, John, 457. 

CoRNBURY, Lord (see Hyde), 
316; embezzles public funds, 
317. 



CoRNE DE St. Luc, Canadian, 
prisoner in N. Y., 339. 

CoRNELis, Marten, 76. 

Corriveau, Captain Jacgues, 
Canadian, prisoner of war in 
N. Y., 336. 

Corsairs, 4. 

CoRTEz, Hernando, 3, 4. 

CoRVAN, William, kidnapped 
mulatto, 73. 

CoTTEREL, Robert, shot for al- 
leged mutiny, 313. 

CoTTOMAER (Captain), 163, 164. 

CouLON, Rene, French-Cana- 
dian agent in N. Y., 319. 

Counties, division of province 
into, 91. 

Courcelles, Governor Daniel 
de Remi de, 57. 

CouREURs DE Bois negotiate with 
Bellomont, 313, 313. 

Courts, Dongan erects, 98. 

Couture, William, 38, 30. 

Cregier, Captain Martin, 51. 

Crevecceur, Jean Hector St. 
John de, agent of French 
packet line, 336 ; French Con- 
sul General, 366; trustee of 
Catholic Church, 370; sketch 
of, 370, 371, 373. 

Cruz, Antonia de la, Spanish 
Catholic negro, tried for con- 
spiracy, 367. 

Cuba, 16. 

Cunningham, Philip, Catholic 
in N. Y., 1694, 195. 

" Curse of Cowardice," pam- 
phlet urging recruiting, 339. 

CuYLER, Lieutenant Henry, 
135, 136, 137, 138, 139. 

Daille, Pastor Pierre (Hugue- 
not), abused by Leisler, 170. 

D'AiLLEBouT, Gov. Louis, 53. 

Danby Fort, 39. 

Danby, Sir Thomas, grant to, 
by Plowden, 39. 

Daniel, S. J., Father An- 
thony, 22, 25, 44. 

Dankers and Sluyters (Laba- 
dists), 11. 

D'Anselme, Col. M., 360. 

D'Anville, Admiral, 306. 

Da Ponte, Lorenzo, in business 



INDEX 



477 



in N. Y., 438; sketch of, 438, 
439; professor in Columbia 
College, 439 ; death of, 439. 

D'Arismoxde, Miguel, sent to 
Boston for exchange, 197. 

Darre, Fidele, French officer in 
American army, 349. 

D'Aux, Chevalier Pierre, 
SiEUR DE JoLLiET, named by 
Indians Dionakaronde, pris- 
oner in fort in N. Y., 186; 
ambassador to Onondagas, 
188; captured by Indians and 
sent, a prisoner, to Leisler, 
188; teaches Dominie Varick 
French, 188; appeals in be- 
half of French women and 
children, 189; escapes, recap- 
tured, 189; in Boston, 189; 
again escapes, reaches Cana- 
da, death of, 189. 

Davost, S. J., Father Ambrose, 
22, 25. 

Dedham (Mass.), 83. 

Deerfield, 60. 

Dekannisore or Tegannisor- 
ENS, Onondaga sachem and 
orator, 201; sketch of, 201,- 
202 ; death, 202. 

De Lancey, Lieut.-Gov. James, 
to Lords of Trade, 314; suc- 
ceeds Gov. Hardy, 322; or- 
ders all French prisoners of 
war and Acadians impris- 
oned, 322. 

De la Noy, Peter, 144; elected 
Mayor of N. Y., 152. 

Delaware, 78. 

Delaware Bay, Robert Evelin 
explores, 40. 

Delaware River, Swedish set- 
tlements on, 38. 

Dellius, Domixie Godfrey 
(Dutch Reformed), flees to 
Boston to escape Leisler, 169; 
receives £60 formerly paid to 
Dongan's chaplains, 182; on 
embassy to New France, 200. 

Delongtjemare, M., 456. 

Demttraux, Canadian, prisoner 
of war in N. Y., 339. 

Denoxville, James Rexe de 
Brisay, Governor-General of 



New France, Letters to Don- 
gan, 89 ; threatens to burn Al- 
bany, 101, 104; seizes 50 Iro- 
quois, 104; advice to Louis 
XIV., 109; obeys Dongan's 
ultimatum, 109, 188. 

De Noue, S. J., Father Anne, 
22. 

Depeyster, Capt. Abraham, 
125, 128, 135. 

Dequa, Philip & Dego, slaveSf, 
petition for freedom, 96. 

Dersier, 15. 

Desiertas, 5. 

Desxoues, Joseph, an early N. 
Y. printer, 447. 

Desobrey, Benjamin, 456. 

Despeyron, Major M., 360. 

D'EsTAiNG, Count, his fleet en- 
ters N. Y. bay, 354. 

Dieppe, 9. 

DiESKAu, Baron de, defeated at 
Lake George, 316; sent a 
prisoner to N. Y., 317; 
wounded, 317; well guarded, 
317; sent to Boston and re- 
turned to N. Y., 318; sails 
for England, 318; dies in 
France from effect of 
wounds, 318, 327. 

Dionakaronde, Indian name 
for Chevalier D'Aux, 186. 

Dix, Rev. J. Morgan, D.D., on 
Verrazano's voyage, 8. 

Dongan, Governor Thomas, 
arrives at Nantucket, Mass., 
82; biographical sketch of, 83, 
84, 85; enters N. Y. city, 86; 
calls popular assembly, 87, 
88; appoints officials, 87; sails 
for Albany, 88; overtures to 
Five Nations, 89; settles 
boundaries, 89; proclamation 
on liquor question, 91 ; divides 
city into wards, 92; grant of 
land to, from Hempstead, 93; 
establishes postal communica- 
tion, 98; proclaims day of 
thanksgiving, 99 ; grants char- 
ter to city, 100; appointed 
Captain-General, etc., 100; 
orders liberation from slavery 
of Spanish-American Indians, 



478 



INDEX 



103; reports to Committee of 
Trade, 103; proposes taking 
possession of Mississippi river, 
103; erects manor of " Cassil- 
towne," 103; resents French 
aggression, 104; ultimatum to 
Denvonville, 105; orders war 
tax, 107; impoverishes him- 
self for province's defence, 
106; Andros succeeds him, 
108; declines high rank in 
British army, 108; impover- 
ished, 108; issues proclama- 
tion of emancipation, 108; re- 
tires, to Hempstead, L. I. 
109; in New Jersey, 123; 
wanted in N. Y. by people, 
134; charged with conspiracy, 
154; warrant for, 159; leaves 
for Boston, 159. 

DoBNix, Bernard, Catholic 
publisher in N. Y., 458; 
sketch of, 458. 

Douglass, William, early N. Y. 
Catholic, 195; dismissed from 
New Jersey Assembly for 
being a Catholic, 196. 

Downing, John, 408. 

Doyle, Dennis, 457. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 3. 

Drisius, Dominie Saimuel 
(Dutch Reformed), 53. 

Dubois, Col. Louis, French offi- 
cer in American army, 349. 

DuBouRG, Very Rev. Louis 
William Valentine, be- 
friends Mrs. Seton, 445, 450; 
his career, 450, 451. 

DucHENE, La Marque, Cana- 
dian, prisoner of war in N. 
Y., 339. 

DuGAN, M., French officer in 
American army, 349. 

Duke of Monmouth, 99. 

Duke's Farm (see also King's 
Farm), location, 96; Dongan 
asks its grant for school, 96. 

Dumas, M., former French offi- 
cer, arrested as spy in N. Y., 
323. 

D'Unguent, French name for 
Dongan, 85. 

Du Plessis, Chevalier Mau- 



DuiT, French officer in the 
American army, 349. 

DuPLESsis M., Canadian, pris- 
xjner of war in N. Y. City, 
306. 

DupuYs, Lieut., 238. 

DuRAND, I. B., 457. 

DuRANT, John, renegade Recol- 
lect from Canada, 247; oifers 
to sell French military secrets 
to England, 247; in London, 
247. 

Dutch, 13; trade on Hudson's 
river, 15; sailors befriend F. 
Jogues, 33, 34, 36; ransom F. 
Bressani, 41 ; surrender New 
Orange, 67, 74. 

Dutch Reformed Church, 
Brockholl's children baptized 
in, 76, 113, 136; members of, 
denounced as " Papists," 140. 

Dutch West India Company, 
49 ; censures Megapolensis 
and Stuyvesant for surren- 
dering N. Y., 62, 114. 

Dyer, William, 75. 

Earl of Argyle, 99. 

Easom or Easoner, John, pri- 
vateersman, captured Espi- 
nosa's sloop, 304; petitions 
Court that Espinosa's cargo 
be condemned as unlawful, 
304; inhuman treatment of 
French seamen, 307. 

East River, described in early 
Cosmographie, 12, 17, 48; the 
"Shoeinge," 49, 86, 117; 
British army crosses to N. Y., 
351. 

Easthampton, L. I., 70, 83, 120. 

Eight Men, The, 19. 

Elm Street, 11. 

Embargo Act, 460. 

England, 2, 40, 41, 61; captures 
New Amsterdam, 63; occupies 
New Orange, 67; renames it 
N. Y., 67, 80, 118, 154, 186 
215, 243, 289, 293, 307; Colo- 
nies rebel against Taxation, 
334, 335, 340; cessation of 
hostilities with the U. S., 360. 

Epstein, Captain Carl, 66. 

Erie Tribe, 23. 



INDEX 



479 



Eriwojieck, Evelin builds fort 
at, 40. 

Esopus, N. Y., 77. 

EspiNosA, Don Jose, brings 69 
English to N. Y. for ex- 
change, 300, 301, 302; N. Y. 
authorities worried by, 302; 
bad treatment of, 304; cap- 
tured by privateers in N. Y. 
bay, 304; secures decision that 
Spanish mulattoes are to be 
treated as prisoners of war, 
305. 

EvELYx, Robert, an associate of 
Plowden, 38; explores coast, 
38; in New Amsterdam, 38; 
in New Albion, 39. 

Exchange Place, 78. 

Fanueil, Captain Benjamin, 
prominent Huguenot in N. Y., 
charged with French intrigue, 
218; exonerated, 218. 

Farmer, Anthony, Catholic, 
house attacked by Leislerites, 
137, 138. 

Farmer, S.J., Father Ferdi- 
nand (Steenmeyer), offers 
mass in N. Y., 338 ; sketch of, 
338, 344; in N. Y. City, 367; 
offers mass in N. Y., 367; 
writes to Superior Carroll, 
369; in New York, 370, 376; 
letter to Superior Carroll, 
378; death of, 379. 

Farley, Most Rextirend John, 
Archbishop of New York, 
463, 464. 

Federal Hall, 389, 397. 

Feeny or Fenny, John, Cath- 
olic in N. Y. in 1694, 195, 196, 
197. 

Fenelon, Marquis de. Gov. of 
Martinique, petitions for 
Acadians, 331. 

Fenwick, S.J., Father, 463. 

Feruz de Hondia, Governor 
Don Alonzo, endeavors to 
liberate Spanish freemen en- 
slaved in N. Y., 323. 

Fleuromont, Canadian, pris- 
oner of war in N. Y., 339. 

FiLiccHi, Philip and An- 



thony, in N. Y., 444; be- 
friend Mrs. Seton, 444. 
Fitch, Captain James, 137. 
Fitzgerald, Colonel John, 
aide-de-camp and secretary to 
General George Washington, 
348 ; sketch of, 347, 348. 
Fitzsimons, Thomas, in N. Y., 
398; representative in Con- 
gress, 398; his career and 
distinguished public services, 
399, 400, 401, 402, 403. 

Five Nations (see also Iro- 
quois), 80, 89, 95, 101, 102, 
104, 105, 106, 107, 233. 

Flanders, 85. 

Flatbush, L. I., 83; French 
prisoners of war sent to, 233; 
F. Mareuil, S.J., a prisoner in, 
234; French war prisoners in, 
305. 

Flatlands, 83. 

Fleming, Thojias, 457. 

Fletcher, Governor Benja- 
min, on New Yorkers, 185; 
sketch of, 191; succeeds 
Sloughter, 191; anti-Leisler- 
ite, 191 ; corrupt, 191 ; instruc- 
tions to him concerning print- 
ing presses, 192; writes about 
F. Millet, S.J., 193; writes 
Board of Trade concerning 
Catholics, 195; writes con- 
cerning Catholic soldiers, 197; 
Assemlil}^ wants his coat of 
arms removed, 203. 

FLoauET, S.J., Father Pierre 
Rene, silenced on charge of 
American sympathy, 344. 

Flushing, L. I., 83. 

Fontainebleau, 35. 

Fontenay, Cadet de, Canadian, 
prisoner of war in N. Y., 326. 

Forster (Gulick), S.J., Father 
Michael, meets F. Harvey, 
S.J., in N. Y., 86. 

Fort Amsterdam (see also Fort 
James, Fort William and 
Fort AVilliam Henry), de- 
scription of, 16, 37. 

Fort Chambly, 105, 235. 

Fort Charles (Pemaquid), 72, 

Fort Duouesne, 310. 



480 



INDEX 



Fort Elfsborg, 41. 

Fort James (see also Forts 
Amsterdam, William and 
WiUam Henry), 88, 94, 123; 
captured by Leislerites, 129; 
fire in church in, 140; a 
" Papistical " design, 140. 

Fort Orange (see Albany). 

Fort William (see also Forts 
Amsterdam, James and Will- 
iam Henry), named, 145; 
Leisler fills dungeons of, 150. 

Fort William Henry (see 
Forts Amsterdam, James and 
William), named, 181; dis- 
turbance among soldiers in, 
211. 

Fort William Henry, 29; sur- 
renders to French, 322, 326. 

Fox, Robert, 457. 

France, 5, 9, 14, 16, 19, 21, 32, 
35, 118, 186, 214, 289, 293, 307. 

Francis I, King of France, 
sends Verrazano in search of 
westward passage to Spice 
Islands, 1, 5; taken prisoner 
at Pavia, 12. 

Franchessen, Col. Jaques An- 
ToiNE de. Knight of St. Louis ; 
French officer in American 
army, 349. 

Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, on 
Congressional Committee to 
Canada, 341, 342; Canadian 
mission a failure, 344; returns 
with F. Carroll, 344. 

Franklin Square, 80. 

Franklin Street, 11. 

Freay, Padre, prisoner of war 
in N. Y. city, 219. 

Freemasons, negroes organize 
spurious lodge of, 261, 273, 
421. 

French, fur factors on Man- 
ants Island, 11; Dutch proofs 
of French priority on North 
River, 15, 16, 80. 

French Neutrals (see also 
Acadians), 317, 319, 322. 

French, Philip, arrested by 
Leisler and liberated, 134, 
135, 140. 

French Revolution drives 



many refugees to N. Y. City, 
411, 412. 

Frontenac, Louis de Baude de. 
Governor of New France, 60, 
72, 73; plan's conquest of N. 
Y., 187; too late to attack 
N. Y., 187. 

Gage, S.J., Father Charles, 
joins Father Harvey in N. Y. 
in, 102. 

Gaisson, Canadian, prisoner in 
N. Y., 339. 

Gallissoniere, Michel Rol- 
land Barvin, Count de la. 
Governor of New France, 
309. 

Games, Major, 359. 

Gamelon, Canadian prisoner in 
N. Y., 339. 

Garakonthie, Daniel, orator 
and Sachem of Onondaga na- 
tion, 56; enters and prays in 
Dutch church in N. Y., 56; 
sketch of, 57; baptized, 57; 
death, 58. 

Gardner's Island, L. I., 83. 

Gardoqui, Don Diego de, ap- 
pointed " Encargado de Ne- 
gocias," 370; in N. Y., 370, 
379, 390, 407, 408; leaves N. 
Y., 408. 

Garnier, S. J., Father 
Charles, 20, 24. 

Garnier, S.J., Father Julian, 
57. 

Genet, Edmond Charles, 
French minister in N. Y., 
414. 

Georgian Bay, 22. 

George III of England, 337. 

Ghiglino, Lorenzo, takes ship 
bearing Papal flag into N. Y. 
bay, 326 ; sails for Genoa with 
French prisoners, 326. 

Gibault, Father, " Patriot 
Priest of the Revolution," 
340. 

Gibraltar, 3. 

Glover, Thobias, 457. 

Golden Book, to promote emi- 
gration, 223. 

Golden Hill, Battle of, 335. 

Gold, Major Nathan, 137. 



INDEX 



481 



Gomez, Estavan, enters N. Y. 
bay, 10; sketch of, 10. 

GONTATJT, ArmAND LoUIS DE, 

Due DE Latjzan, 360. 

GOTTSBERGER, JoHN GeORGE, 453 ; 

trustee of St. Peter's Church, 

452. 
GoTJDAiN, Lawrejtce, 457. 
GoupiL, Rene, 28, 29, 30 ; killed, 

31. 
Governor's Island, early names 

Pagganck, 17; Nutten, 131. 
Govert, Brevet Captain 

Jacoues Paul, French officer 

in American army, 349. 
Graessel, Father Laurence, 

passes through N. Y., 385; 

sketch of, 385, 386. 
Graham, James, 74, 146, 
Granet, Sieur, prisoner of war 

in N. Y., 326. 
Gravesend, L. I., 83. 
Great Dock, 79. 
Great River of the Mountains 

(see Hudson River). 
Grents, Father Thomas, 

O.S.D., a war prisoner in N. 

Y., 244. 
Greveraet, Andries, 116, 117. 
GuiTEREz, AuGusTiN, Catholic 

Spanish negro, tried for con- 
spiracy, 367. 
Hadden, Richard, charged with 

piracy, 334; captures several 

vessels of friendly power; 

prosecuted, 335. 
Hadley, Mass., 71, 73. 
Haeger, Rev. John Frederic, 

appointed pastor to Palatines, 

337; finds Catholics among 

them, in N. Y., 228, 331. 
Hakluyt, Richard, 9. 
Halbout, Father James 

Charles, in N. Y., 433, 434. 
Hamilton, Colonel Andrew, 

122. 
Hanover Square, 80. 
Harburg (or Tavern). (See 

Stadt Huys.) 
Hardy, Governor Sir Charles, 

succors French prisoners, 317, 

318, 319; orders Acadians dis- 



tributed to remote parts of 
province, 332, 333. 

Harding, S.J., Father Robert, 
General Gage asks him to 
send priest to the " Illinois," 
330. 

Harrison, S.J., Father Henry, 
joins F. Harvey in N. Y., 99, 
103. 

Hartford, Conn., 74. 

Harvey, S.J., Father Thomas 
(John Smith), Dongan's chap- 
lain, 83; sketch of, 83, 86; 
opens Latin school, 95, 96, 97, 
113; administers oath of alle- 
giance to James II, 118; in 
N. Y. in hiding, 147; leaves 
for Maryland, 191 ; returns to 
N. Y., 191; in N. Y., 198; 
death of, 346. 

Hayti, 3. 

Heeney, Cornelius, 451, 453; 
trustee and treasurer of St. 
Peter's, 453; sketch of, 453, 
453, 454, 455; founds Brook- 
lyn Benevolent Society, 455. 

Heere-Graft, The, 48 ; filled in, 
78. 

Heere Straat (now Broad- 
way), 51. 

Hell Gate, 13. 

Helme, Arthur, piratical pri- 
vateersman, 298 ; captures 
Spanish flag-of-truce vessels, 
298 ; taken by Spaniards, 298 ; 
correspondence concerning, 
398. 

Hempstead, L. I., 83; grant of 
land to Dongan, 93; French 
prisoners of war sent to, 333. 

Henry II (King of France), 
11. 

Henry VIII (King of Eng- 
land), 9. 

Hercourt, Jean Baptist, 
French-Canadian agent in N. 
Y., 319. 

Hertel, Canadian prisoner in 
N. Y., 339. 

Hertel, Francois, in New Am- 
sterdam, 58; sketch of, 58, 
59, 60 ; letters to F. Le Moyne 
and his (Hertel's) mother, 59. 



482 



INDEX 



Hertel, Sieur de Chambly, 
French-Canadian agent in N. 
Y., 219; another son visits 
N. Y., sketch of, 248. 

Heurimont, Hervieux, Cana- 
dian prisoner in N. Y., 339. 

High Street or Hoogh Straat, 
49, 80. 

HiNTOK, JOHX, 451. 

HisPANiOLA. (See Hayti.) 

Hoes, John, 451. 

hogax, johx, 431. 

Holland. (See Netherlands.) 

Horsmanden, Daniel, com- 
ments on alarms of fire, 256; 
on bench in negro trials, 258, 
259, 261, '2&2, 263, 264, 266, 
269, 273, 278, 282, 287, 288. 

HouDiN, Michael, flees from 
New France, comes to N. Y., 
290; sent to Jamaica, 290; 
regarded as French spy, 290; 
identified as Father Poten- 
cien, 290; sketch of, 290, 
291 ; renounces Catholic Faith, 
291; preaches in New Jersey 
without license, 291; preaches 
in Trinity Church, 291 ; chap- 
lain in British army, 291 ; ap- 
pointed pastor in New Roch- 
elle, 292; death of, 292. 

HowARDiNG, Thomas, Catholic 
in N. Y. (1694), 195; ship 
owner and patentee, 196. 

Hudson Bay, ii2. 

Hudson, Henry, 14. 

Hudson River, named the " San 
Antonio " by Gomez, 10 ; 
known as the " Great River 
of the Mountains," 10; de- 
scribed by AUefonsce, 13; 
Hollanders trade on, 15; F. 
Jogues crosses upper, 29, 32; 
Father Bressani on, 42, 51 ; 
Connecticut claims to line of, 
77, 92, 101, 105; Palatines set- 
tle on, 222. 

Huguenots, 200 families settle 
in N. Y., 104; James II 
grants full liberty to, 104; 
Leisler purchases tract for, 
163; protest against War Tax, 
163, 164; demand investiga- 



tion of Newinhuysen's story, 
218; petition for charter, 330; 
propose conversion of Cana- 
dian Catholics, 330. 

Hunter, S.J., Father George, 
Superior of Maryland prov- 
ince, 332; passes through N. 
Y., 332; sketch of, 333. 

Hunter, Governor Robert, ar- 
rives as governor, 227; spends 
private fortune to support 
Palatines, 229 ; concerning 
rights of Spanish slaves in 
N. Y., 239. 

Huntington, L. I., 83, 120. 

Hurley, D.D., O.S.A., Father 
Michael, 445; aids N. Y. 
priests during epidemic, 449. 

Huron Nation, Jesuit mission 
to, 22, 25, 28, 30; F. Bressani 
visits, 42, 44. 

Hyde, Edward (Viscount 
Cornbury), Governor of N. 
Y., 215; character of, 216; 
embezzles public funds, 217. 

IcARD, Joseph, 456. 

Idley, Joseph, mass in his house 
in Wall Street, 338, 408. 

Ihonitiria, 22, 25. 

Ibibert, Captain John Louis, 
French officer in the American 
army, 349. 

Indefendent Reflector, 314. 

Indian Ocean, 6. 

Indians, 6, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 
27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 35, 42, 43, 
44, 50, 88, 101, 102, 104, 105, 
106, 107; demonstration of, on 
Northern border, 151 ; address 
of Catholic to Indian commis- 
sioners, 206, 207, 305. 

Indians (Free Spanish Cath- 
olic), many held in slavery in 
N. Y. City", 238. 

Ingoldsby, Major Richard, ar- 
rives with troops in N. Y., 
171; demands fort from Leis- 
ler, 171; asks aid of L. I. 
militia, 172; operations 
against Leisler, 172, 173, 174, 
175, 176; Lord's supper re- 
fused to, 216. 



INDEX 



483 



Innes, Rev. Alexander, Angli- 
can chaplain in the fort, 135; 
denounced as a " Papist," 135, 
154. 

Ireland, 34; 18th Royal Irish 
Regiment recruited in, 339; 
immigrants from, quarantine 
on Staten Island, 434. 

Iroquois (see also Five Na- 
tions), nations forming the, 
23, 25; their habitations, 25, 
44, 88, 89, 95; promised as- 
sistance against French, 101, 
102, 104, 105, 106, 107; out- 
break of, 18T, 188; take war- 
path against French, 233. 

Isle of Orleans, 20. 

Isle of Plowden (see Long Is- 
land). 

IsLip, L. I., 83. 

Italians, 2. 

Jamaica, L. I., 83, 120; Rev, 
Michael Houdin in, 290; he is 
regarded as a French spy, 
290; French war prisoners in, 
305. 

Jamaica (West Indies), 3, 96. 

James, Duke of York, 61, 66; 
convert to the Faith, 68; 
directs freedom of conscience, 
68, 75, 77, 82; meets Dongan 
in France, 84, 86, 89. 

James II, King of England 
(see also Duke of York), 89; 
succeeds to throne, 99; in- 
structions to Dongan, 101, 
102; grants religious liberty 
to Huguenots, 104, 106; for- 
bids hostilities against New 
France, 106; persecuted, 109; 
declaration of indulgence, 
110; dethroned, 110; escapes 
to France, 110; his prayer, 
110; instructions to his son, 
110, 111, 112. 

James, Rev. Thomas (Congre- 
gationalist), pastor of East- 
hampton, L. I., 70; greets 
Dongan, 83. 

Jamestown (Va.), 11. 

Jaubert, Lieutenant, Cana- 
dian, prisoner of war in N. 
Y., 326. 



Jay, John, introduces anti- 
Catholic measures in the N. Y. 
State constitutional conven- 
tion, 352, 353. 

Jay, Sir James, asks grant of 
land for King's College, 331. 

Jesuits, Father Jogues taken to 
New Amsterdam, 19; F. 
Chastelain and Garnier, 20; 
F. Jogues, 22, 25, 26, 27, 33, 
34, 35, 36; build shrine at 
Auriesville, N. Y., 36, 52, 56; 
F. Pierson in N. Y., 70; F. 
Bruyas, 72; F. Forster (Gu- 
lick) in N. Y., 86, 99, 102, 113, 
147; F. Lamberville, 169, 190; 
F. Milet, 192, 198; Bellomont 
schemes to capture, 202, 212; 
F. De Marieul in N. Y., 233; 
Lords of Trade compliment, 
243; death of F. Harvey, 246, 
328; letter concerning, 329; 
better feeling towards, 330; 
General Gage asks for mis- 
sioner to the Illinois, 330, 331, 
341, 345; accused of Amer- 
ican sympathv, 374, 459; F. 
Hunter in N. Y., 332; F. Far- 
mer in N. Y., 338; F. Kohl- 
mann organizes diocese as 
V.-G., 460. 

Jesuit Relations, extract from, 
of 1679, 56; extract from F. 
Lamberville's letter, 190. 

Jews, Dongan recommends their 
petition to worship in N. Y., 
99. 

John, The Florentine (see 
Verrazano). 

Johnson, Sir William, defeats 
Dieskau at Lake George, 316; 
on missionaries, 330, 331, 333; 
invites Scotch Highlanders to 
his domain, 333. 

Jogues, S.J., Father Isaac, 
taken to New vVmsterdam, 19; 
his early life, 20; ordered to 
Huron mission, 22, 24; his 
journey, 24, 25; his labors 
with the Hurons, 25; founds 
mission and journeys west- 
ward, 27; returns to Quebec, 
28; captured, 28; tortured. 



484 



INDEX 



29; mutilated, 30; searches 
for Goupil's body, 31; at Al- 
bany, 32, 33; in New Amster- 
dam, 34; " Ondessonk," 35; in 
France, 35; returns to New 
France, 35; at Albany, 36; 
martyred, 36, 42. 

John Street, 332, 335. 

JoNQUiERE, James Peter de 
Tafanell, Marquis de. Gov- 
ernor of Canada, 309. 

JuAx, Florin (see Verrazano). 

JuMEL Mansion, 425. 

JuMEL, Stephen, comes to N. 
Y. city, 424; sketch of, 424, 
425. 

Johnson, Johannes, sheriff, 
152. 

Kecoughtan (Va.), 40. 

Kempe, William, Attorney- 
General of N. Y., unable to 
protect the liberty of Spanish 
prisoners of war, 312, 313; 
his report on demand for lib- 
eration from slavery of free 
Spaniards, prisoners of war 
in No Y., 314. 

Kennedy Mansion, 332. 

KiDD, Captain William, serves 
against Leisler, 175; his pir- 
atical career and exalted part- 
ners, 213, 214. 

Kieft, Director Willem, wel- 
comes F. Jogues to New Am- 
sterdam, 19; gives F. Jogues 
credentials, 34 ; receives Plow- 
den, 37; succors F. Bressani, 
43; drowned, 45. 

KiERSTEDE, Hans, 48. 

Kings County, 122. 

King's College (see also Co- 
lumbia College), controversy 
over, 314, 318; Sir John Jay 
asks grant of land for, 331, 
332; legislature makes it non- 
sectarian, 385. 

King's Farm (see also Duke's 
Farm), Queen Ann grants it 
to Trinity Church, 96. 

Knapton, Ensign C^sah, 66, 
71, 72. 

Kocherthal, Rev. Joshua, 



leader of first band of Pala- 
tines, 222. 

Kohlmann, S.J., Father An- 
thony, sent to organize N. Y. 
diocese, 460; sketch of, 460; 
appointed Vicar-General and 
Administrator, 460, 463. 

Labadie, John, 32. 

Labrador, 12. 

Lachauvignerie, Canadian pris- 
oner, in N. Y., 326. 

La Coste, Captain, Canadian 
prisoner, in N. Y., 317. 

La Fayette, General, visits N. 
Y., 368. 

Lake Champlain, 29. 

Lake Genentaa, 52. 

Lake George, 29 ; Father Jogues 
names it "Lake of the Blessed 
Sacrament," 35; Johnson de- 
feats Dieskau at, 316. 

Lake Huron, 22, 23. 

Lake Nipissing, 23. 

Lake of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. (See Lake George.) 

Lake Saratoga, 29. 

Lake St. Peter, 28, 42. 

Lake Success, Dongan's home 
near, 93. 

Lalande, John, 36. 

Lalemant, S.J., Father Ga- 
briel, 44. 

Lalor, William, 408. 

Lamberville, S.J., Father, 161, 
161, 190, 233. 

Landais, Pierre, in N. Y., 425; 
sketch of, 425, 426, 427, 428, 
429; his epitaph, 429. 

Landes, Jean des, French Cana- 
dian agent in N. Y., 219. 

Lande, M'd'lle de la, 97; bap- 
tized in N. Y., sent to Fronte- 
nac as Philip's envoy, 98. 

Land Gate, 51. 

L'Anormee Berge. (See Pali- 
sades.) 

Laplante, Canadian prisoner in 
N. Y., 326. 

Larkin, James, arrested by 
Lelslerites in N. Y., 147. 

La Roche, Estein, French de- 
serter in N. Y., 290; identifies 
Houdin as F. Potencien, 290. 



INDEX 



485 



La Rochelle, Canadian pris- 
oner in N, Y., 3:26. 

Laroue, Louis, 457. 

Lauzujst, Due DE, 360. 

Laval, Marguis de, 359. 

Laval-Moxtmorekcy, Bishop 
FRA>rcis Xavier de, 57. 

Lawrence, Charles, Governor 
of Nova Scotia, 318; sends 
Acadians to Georgia, 32L 

Laws, Anti-Catholic, against 
Jesuits and " Popish priests," 
207, 208, 209, 210; no fran- 
chise for Catholics, 215; form 
of indictment for Catholic 
priests found in province, 244, 
245, 246 ; law against " Pop- 
ish " priests and Jesuits re- 
pealed, 367; obnoxious natu- 
ralization oath abrogated, 
450. 

Leary, John, derided for per- 
formance of Easter duty, 349. 

Leary Street, named after Jno. 
Leary, 332. 

Le Bert, Lieutenant Francis, 
French officer in N. Y., 238. 

Le Blanc, Rene, Acadian exile 
landed in N. Y., 321 ; sent to 
Philadelphia, 321; dies there, 
321. 

L'Enfant Major Pierre 
Charles, designer of Federal 
Hall, 397; sketch of, 397, 398, 
406, 407. 

Le Grand^ Charles, prisoner 
of war in N. Y., 326. 

Leisler, Jacob, sketch, 114, 115; 
personality, 115, 116; anti- 
Catholic, 115; accepts ap- 
pointments from Dongan, 115 ; 
evades custom duties, 119, 
124, 134; proclaims William 
and Mary, 138; assails custom 
collectors, 141, 142, 143, 144; 
writes against "Papists," 146; 
chosen Captain of the fort, 
151; constitutes himself Com- 
mander-in-Chief of Province, 
151; orders counties to elect 
military and civil officers, 152; 
orders illegal election, 152; 
seizes Riggs dispatches, 155; 



assumes title of Lieutenant- 
Governor, 155; arbitrary acts 
of, 156, 157; imprisons forty 
officers, 158; seizes one hun- 
dred and fifty commissions, 
159; issues general warrant, 
159; asks aid of Maryland 
and Virginia against Canada, 
160; takes guns from Dutch 
ship, 160; people jjetition for 
release of prisoners, 161 ; first 
American Congress called 
by, 161 ; prepares to attack 
French, 161 ; sends fleet 
against French, 161; opposi- 
tion to, 161; petition to Wil- 
liam and Mary against, 162; 
people attack, 165, 166; im- 
prisons Fitz-John Winthrop, 
166; approves arbitrary laws, 
168; imprisons and insults 
Dutch ministers, 169; holds 
fort against Ingoldsby, 173, 

174, 175, 176; daughter mar- 
ries Jacob Milborne, 174; pro- 
clamation against Ingoldsby, 

175, 176; fires on Ingoldsby's 
forces, 176; letter to Slough- 
ter, 180; surrenders fort to 
Ingoldsby, 180; Leisler im- 
prisoned, 181 ; charges against, 
181, 182; found guilty, 182; 
sentenced to death, 182; exe- 
cuted, 184; reversal by at- 
tainder against, 184; estate 
restored to family of, 184; 
hatred engendered by, dis- 
tracts N. Y. for years, 184, 
186. 

Le Jeune, S.J., Father Paul, 
Jesuit Superior in New 
France, 21, 24. 

Lebiaire, Father John Bap- 
TisTE Joseph, officiates at St. 
Peter's, 422. 

Lemoine, Captain Bernard, 
commands French warship, 
73; in N. Y., 73. 

Le Moyne, Anthony, Commis- 
sary of Martinique in N. Y., 
305. 

Le Moyne, S. J., Father Simon, 
comes to New Amsterdam, 



486 



INDEX 



45; his tour of the city, 46, 
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52; bio- 
graphical sketch of, 52; leaves 
New Amsterdam, 53; Stuy- 
vesant's envoy to New France, 
54; letter to Stuyvesant, 54; 
death, 55; Garakonthie's love 
for, 5G. 

Le Moyne, Pierre Siettr D'Ib- 
ERviLLE, arrives in N. Y., 203; 
memorial concerning N. Y., 
214, 215, 217. 

Leroux, Bartholomew, 131. 

Lespinard, Antoine, 104. 

Leverett, Johx, Governor of 
Massachusetts, 72. 

Levis, Chevalier de, 318. 

Lewix, John, Duke's agent, 75. 

Ligneris, Lieutenant Con- 
stant DE Marchand des, in 
N. Y. for exchange of pris- 
oners, 308; official and social 
success in N. Y., 309; sketch 
of, 309, 310, 311. 

Liquor Qltestion, 91. 

Liste Chronolof/ique, 292. 

Livingstone, Robert, letters to 
" Lords of Trade " concern- 
ing D'Iberville's visit to N. 
Y., 214. 

Lloyd, Thomas, official reporter 
of House of Representatives, 
394 ; " Father of American 
Shorthand," 396; sketch of, 
394, 395, 396, 407. 

LoDwiCK, Charles, 124. 

London, 122. 

London Gazette, 134. 

Long Island, wars with Indians 
on, 33; called "Isle of Plow- 
den," 37, 76, 77, 80; Dongan 
on, 82, 88, 105; outbreak 
against Leisler in, 170, 214; 
78 Acadians beached on, 321 ; 
battle of, 350, 351. 

Long Island Sound, Allefonsce 
sails through, 12. 

Lord Baltimore, 34, 77; connec- 
tion of Dongan, 84. 

Lord Howard of Effingham, 
visits N. Y., 94, 95; asks Don- 
gan's aid in Indian troubles, 
95, 107. 



Lord Inchiguin, 85. 

Lords of Trade, 247, 314; Sir 

William Johnson writes to, 

concerning missionaries, 330, 

331. 
LoTBiNiERE, Michael Eustace 

Gaspard, Marquis de, in N. 

Y., 384; sketch of, 385. 
Lotbiniere, Chartier de, Cana- 
dian, prisoner in N. Y., 339. 
Louis XIV (King of France), 

85, 187. 
Louis Philippe, Due D'Or- 

LEANs, in N. Y., 423; sketch 

of, 422, 423. 
Louvois, 187. 
Lovelace, Lord John, Gov. of 

N. Y., arrives in, 219. 
Low, Isaac, 337. 
L'Terre, D'Enormee Berge, 10, 

11. 
LusiGNAN, Chevalier Paul, in 

N. Y., 73. 
Lutherans, in N. Y., 78. 
Lynch, Dominick, arrives in 

N. Y., 370; sketch of, 391, 

392, 409, 424, 431. 
Maagte Paetje (see Maiden 

Lane), 50. 
McCarty, Dennis, 457. 
McGiNNis, Hugh, 457. 
McKenzte, Captain George, 

arrested by Leislerites, 148, 

149. 
MacGregorie, Major Patrick, 

a Scotchman; offers to cap- 
ture Dongan, 147; killed by 

Leislerites, 176. 
McMahon, O.S.D., Father 

Anthony, died in N. Y. city, 

431. 
MacNevin, Dr. James, 447; his 

early life, 449; arrives in N. 

Y. city, from Ireland, 449; 

his brilliant career in N. Y., 

450. 
McReady, Father, associated 

with F. Whelan in N. Y., 369. 
Madeiras, 5, 132, 306. 
Magellan, 10. 
Magdelaine, de la, Canadian, 

prisoner in N. Y., 339. 



INDEX 



487 



Magraw, Dr., charged with be- 
ing French pensioner and 
Jesuit, 296, 297. 

Maiden Lane, 50, 107. 

Maine, 9, 71. 

Maiollo's Map, designates San- 
dy Hook as C. de S. Maria, 7, 

Malmady, Brevet-Major, the 
Marquis de, French officer in 
the American army, 349. 

Manhattan Island, French 
traders on, 11; AUefonsce 
sails past, 13; first Catholic 
Dutch on, 15; people embark 
in privateering, 16, 17; Plow- 
den claims, 37. 

Manants, 11. 

Manhasset Tribe, 83. 

Manning, Captain John, 6Q. 

Marbois, Barbe, French minis- 
ter to U. S., 338; mentions 
burning of Catholic chapel in 
N. Y. in great fire of 1776, 
338, 366; sketch of, 367, 374. 

Marieul, S.J., Father Peter 
DE, sketch of, 233; Peter 
Schuyler lures him to Albany, 
234; a prisoner, but treated 
kindly, 234; sent to N. Y. city, 
234; in Flatbush, L. I., 234; 
committee of Colonial Coun- 
cil provides for, 334; his at- 
tendant sent to Hempstead, 
234; exchanged, 235. 

Marsapeagxje Tribe, 83. 

Martha's Vineyard (Mass), 
82, 88. 

Maryland, 34; asylum for 
Plowden's colonists, 41, 107, 
341. 

Massachusetts Bay, AUefonsce 
enters, 12. 

Matchedash Bay, 27. 

Massasoit, 71. 

Matignon, Father, 445. 

Matinecock Tribe, 83. 

Megapolensis, Dominie Johan- 
nes (Dutch Reformed), ac- 
companies F. Jogues to New 
Amsterdam, 18, 19; befriends 
F. Jogues, 32, 33; a pervert, 
34, 45; F. Jogues visits, 52; 
F. Le Moyne sends letters to. 



53; advises Stuyvesant to sur- 
render N. Y. to British fleet, 
61; in disgrace thereby, 62; 
writes defence to Classis, 62, 
63; death of, 63. 

Menendez, 13. 

Mercator's Globe, 11. 

Mericoke Tribe, 83. 

Mexico, 2; F. O'Brien collects 
in, for St. Peter's, 384. 

Meyer, Andraes and Jan, 113. 

Michigan, 27. 

Milborne, Jacob, in N. Y. city, 
151; espouses Leisler's cause, 
151; Albany surrenders to, 
160; denounced by Long Isl- 
anders, 170; marries Leisler's 
daughter, 174; tried and 
found guilty, with Leisler, 
181, 182; sentenced to death, 
182; executed, 184; reversal 
of attainder against, 184; es- 
tate restored to family of, 
184. 

Milet, S.J., Father Peter, cap- 
tive of Onondagas, 193; Gov. 
Fletcher offers Indian boy in 
exchange for, 193. 

Militia (Provincial), 100. 

Minvielle, Capt. Gabriel, 133. 

Miranda, General Francisco, 
leads expedition from N. Y. 
against Spaniards in Venezu- 
ela, 437; sketch of, 437, 438. 

Mission of Our Lady of the 
Angels, description of, 21,. 
22. 

Mission of the Martyrs, 35. 

Mission of the Immaculate 
Conception, 27. 

Mission of St. Joseph, 25. 

Mississippi River, 22, 103. 

Mohawk Nation^ early French 
trade with, 15; torture F. 
Jogues, 19, 23, 29; F. Jogues 
returns to, 35; F. Bressani at- 
tacked by, 44, 58, 74; sachems 
of, meet Dongan in N. Y., 89 
105. 

Mohawk River, F. Jogues' 
body thrown into, 36. 

Mohican Tribe, 105. 

Moluccas, 5. 



488 



INDEX 



MONTAGNAIS TrIBE, 20. 

MoNTAUK Point, 8. 

MoNTAUK Tbibe, 83. 

Montcalm, Marguis de, takes 
Forts Ontario and Oswego 
and captures vessels and pris- 
oners, 323. 

Montgomery, General, Rich- 
ard, killed at Quebec, 341. 

montmagny, governor 
Charles Huaualt de, 24. 

Montmorency Falls, 20. 

MoNTPONSiER, Due DE, in N. Y. 
city, 422. 

Montreal, F. Jogues in, 35, 78, 
104; surrenders to British, 
330; surrenders to Americans, 
339. 

MooNEY, William, sketch of, 
396, 408. 

MooRE Street, first dock at foot 
of, 18, 45. 

Moore, Thomas, the Irish poet 
in N. Y., 439. 

Moore, Rev. Thoroughgood, 
disciplines Ingoldsby, 216. 

Moravians, 289, 292, 293. 

More, Marquis de, visits N. Y. 
city, 409. 

Moreau, General Jean Victor, 
in N. Y., 446; founder of 
L'Ecole Economique, 447; his 
brilliant military career, 447, 
448. 

Morgan, Henry, 2, 96. 

MoRiELL, Charles, Catholic 
Frenchman, in N. Y. garrison, 
197; returned to England to 
be dealt with, 197. 

Morris, Andrew, 396, 409, 431, 
451. 

Morris, Gouverneuh, opposes 
John Jay's anti-Catholic 
measures in N. Y. Constitu- 
tional Convention, 352, 422. 

MoRRisEAU, Jean Baptiste, 
French Canadian agent in N. 
Y., 219. 

MoTiER House (Washington's 
headquarters), 346. 

MoTTE, O.S.A., Abbe de la, con- 
fined in Provost prison for 
oifering Mass, 354, 355; min- 



isters to Catholic Indians in 
Maine, 354. 

MousTiER, Eleonore Fran§ois 
Elie, Marquis de, French 
minister, arrives in N. Y. 
city, 386 ; American comments 
on, 386, 387, 388, 407; gives 
fete in honor of Washington, 
408. 

MoYLAN, Stephen, sketch of, 
346, 347; aide-de-camp and 
secretary to Washington, 346 ; 
services of, as Quartermaster- 
General, 351. 

Murray Street, 332. 

Nanfan, John, Lieutenant- 
Governor, in command of N. 
Y., 203; receives French vis- 
itors, 204. 

Nantasket, Mass., 82. 

Nantucket, Island of, 82, 236. 

Narragansett Bay, 9. 

Narrows, The, 119. 

National Library, Paris, 12. 

Navarette, Don Melchor de, 
Governor of St. Augustine's, 
311; corresponds with N. Y. 
government concerning war 
prisoners held in slavery, 311. 

Naylor, Charles, 396, 409, 431. 

Negro Plot, robbery of Hogg's 
store, 250; arrest of negroes 
concerned in, 250 ; Christopher 
Wilson accused, 250; Caesar 
and Cuffee (slaves) arrested, 
250; Peggy Kerry implicated, 
250; Wilson denounces Hugh- 
son, 251 ; summoned to court 
and discharged, 252; Hugh- 
son's house searched, nothing 
found, 252; Mary Burton, 
Hughson's servant, accuses 
Hughson, 252; Mary confined 
for safe keeping, 252; Hugh- 
son confesses and delivers up 
stolen goods, 252 ; fire in Gov- 
ernor's residence, 253; fire de- 
stroys other buildings in fort, 
253; other alarms of fire, 253; 
Spanish negroes arrested, 255 ; 
other alarms of fire cause ap- 
prehension, 254, 255; military 
guard established, 253 ; Hugh- 



INDEX 



489 



son and wife committed, 256; 
reward offered for incendiar- 
ies, 256 ; house to house search, 
256 ; Cuff committed for trial, 
257 ; supreme court trial term 
opens, 258; Phillipse charges 
Grand Jury, 258; Mary Bur- 
ton on stand, 258; denounces 
Hughson, 258, 259; Court 
proceeds against negroes, 259 ; 
Peggy Kerry on stand pleads 
ignorance of plot, 259; Ar- 
thur Price becomes decoy, 
260; Hughson and Peggy 
Kerry convicted, 260; Sarah 
Hughson arrested, 260 ; Peggy 
Kerry implicates twelve ne- 
groes, 260; John Romme im- 
plicated, 260 ; Caesar and Cuf- 
fee executed, 260; negroes in 
spurious Masonic Lodge, 261 ; 
Mary Burton implicates more 
negroes, 262; John Romme 
arrested, 262; Sandy (slave) 
implicates Spanish- Americans, 
262 ; Quack and Cuffee burned 
at stake, 264; Gov. Ogle- 
thorpe's warning against 
Catholic priests, 264; the 
Hughson's and Kerry ar- 
raigned, 266; Mary Burton 
testifies against them, 266; 
five Spanish Catholic negroes 
arraigned, 2QQ, 267 ; no counsel 
permitted, 267; masters give 
good character, 268; found 
guilty, 268; Silva condemned 
to death, 268; hanged, 269; 
others transported, 268 ; search 
for " Popish emissaries," 269 ; 
Mary Burton identifies and 
denounces John Ury, 270; 
"Popish" scare in city, 271; 
Adam, a slave, illegally per- 
mitted to testify against Ury, 
272 ; Holt and Doctor Hamil- 
ton, whites, accused, 273; 
Hughson and Kerry hanged, 
273 ; twenty negroes "confess," 
273; Constable Shultz reveals 
bogus confessions, 273, 274; 
forty-two negroes transport- 
ed, 274; Privates Kane and 



Kelly of the garrison impli- 
cated, 274; Mary Burton tes- 
tifies against them, 274, 275; 
Kane confesses, 275; testifies 
against Ury, 275; seventeen 
soldiers and other whites de- 
nounced, 277; Ury examined, 
278; declares innocence, 278; 
convicted, 286 ; his career, 280, 
281 ; Sarah Hughson par- 
doned, 283; Ury respited, 387; 
hanged, 287. 
Netherlands, 15, 16, 38, 61, 62. 
Neuberg, John William, Duke 

OF, 220. 
Neutral Nation, 23. 
Neuville, Jean Guillaume, 
Baron Hyde de, in N. Y., 
447; a founder of L'Ecole 
Economique, 447; sketch of, 
448. 
New Albion, granted to Sir 
Edmund Plowden, 37; Plow- 
den's plans, 39 ; toleration, 39. 
New Amsterdam, Father Jogues 
enters, 18; refugees in, 33; 
Father Jogues sails from, 34, 
35; Sir Edmund Plowden in, 
38 ; F. Bressani in, 42 ; Robert 
Evelin in, 40; Spanish prize 
in, 45 ; Catholics in, 45 ; F. Le 
Moyne's tour about city, 46, 

47, 48, 49, 50, 51 ; government 
of, 46; larger than Quebec, 

48, 61; Stuyvesant surrenders 
to English, 61; retaken by 
Dutch, 64; ceded to English, 
Q5. 

New England, 15, 50, 60, 61, 
74, 107; N. J. and N. Y. 
united to, 108, 121, 187. 

New France, 19, 20, 28, 52, 57, 
78; English prisoners refuse 
to leave, 200; expedition 
against, 233; failure, 233; an- 
other expedition against, 235; 
thirteen prisoners from N. Y. 
become Catholics, 310. 

New Ha\t:n Colony, 40. 

New Jersey, 37, 74, 81, 93, 101, 
107, 328. 

New Netherland succors F. 



490 



INDEX 



Jogues, 32, 50; ceded to Eng- 
lish, 65. 

New Spain, 16. 

Newtown, L. I., 83; murder by 
slaves in, 239. 

New Utrecht, L. I., 83. 

New York Bay, Verrazano's 
description of, 7, 8; named 
San Christobel by Gomez, 10; 
Hudson "discovers," 14; D'lb- 
erville's " La Renom6e " in, 
203, 204, 205, 207; rumor of 
French fleet in, 218; privateer 
captures Spanish flag of truce 
in, 304; Count D'Estaing's 
fleet in, 354. 

New York City, final cession 
to England, 66; Father Peter 
Smith in, 62; Father Pierson 
or Pierron in, 70; Captain Le- 
moine, 73; Chevalier Lusignan 
and M. de la Chambre in, 73; 
improvements in, under An- 
dros and Brockholls, 78; 
Bolting Act passed; growth 
of city, 79; petitions Dongan 
for additional privileges, 92; 
divided into wards, 92; liquor 
question settled, 93; market 
days appointed, 93; docks 
provided for, 93; regulations 
for bakers, 93; carmen and 
inviter to funerals appointed, 
93; result of carmen's strike, 
94; Latin school opened in, 95; 
valuation of property, 99; 
Dongan grants charter to, 
100; military watch in, de- 
fenses strengthened, 119, 120; 
rumored invasion from Al- 
bany, 121; Leislerites in con- 
trol, 129; Pope's effigy 
dragged in streets of, 154; 
Leisler assembly in, 160; ru- 
mored expedition against, 
164; warlike rumor of French 
fleet in, 193; Catholics in New 
York, 195, 201 ; two " fryars " 
in, 216; French scare in, 217; 
city fortified, 217; arrival of 
Palatines, 220 to 232; slave 
market foot of Wall Street, 
235; military watch during 



negro troubles, 255 ; " Popish " 
scare in, 271; 1,000 regulars 
billeted in, 337 ; on eve of Rev- 
olutionary War, 337; French 
Canadian and English prison- 
ers of war in, 339; news of 
Concord and Lexington 
reaches, 339; Washington in 
command in, 345; disastrous 
conflagration in, 351; French 
packet line established, 365; 
British evacuate, 366; French 
Embassy transferred to, 369; 
in 1789, 389, 390, 391 ; inaugu- 
ration of Washington, 406, 
407, 408; glimpse of social 
life in, 409, 410; Catholic 
emigrants die in yellow fever 
epidemic, 421, 449; Catholic 
population of, 458; an episco- 
pal see, 458; population of, 
460; description of, in 1808, 
461, 462, 463. 

New York (Province and 
State) De Ay lion explores, 
11; boundary disputes with 
Connecticut, 77, 82; divided 
into counties, 91; boundaries, 
89,91,92; courts provided, 98; 
only 3,000 fighting men in, 
193, 194; court unable to pre- 
vent enslaving of prisoners of 
war, 312, 313; constitutional 
convention for, 352; John 
Jay's bigotry, 352. 

New York Post Boy, 291. 

New York Gazette advertises 
runaway Catholic slaves, 249; 
John Leary, 331, 332; adver- 
tisement of Roman Catholic 
volunteers, 357. 

Niagara, 105, 311, 315, 329. 

Nicholas the Frenchman 
fined in Breukelen, 58. 

NicoLLS OR Nichols, Mat- 
thias, 71; Speaker General 
Assembly, 90. 

NicoLS William, warrant for, 
157 ; arrested, 158. 

Nicholson, Francis, LrEUTEN- 
ANT-Gov., 112, 113; afi^ray 
with Cuyler, 125, 126, 127, 128, 



INDEX 



491 



153; appointed Lieut-Gov. of 

Virginia, 160. 
NissEatJAG Tribe, 83. 
NoAiLLEs, 2yiD, Col., Viscoukt 

DE, 360. 

NORTHFIELD, MaSS., 71. 

North River (see Hudson 
River). 

Norumbega Corruption of La 
Terre d'Enormee Berge, 11 ; 
an Indian village, 13. 

Nugent, O.S.F., Father An- 
drew, arrives in New York, 
377, 378, 381; trouble with F. 
Whelan, 382; suspended, 382; 
sails for Europe, 382. 

Nunez de Haro, Archbishop, 
Alonzo, befriends Father 
O'Brien, 348. 

Nunez y Havasitas, Don Juan 
Franz de, 299. 

NuTTEN Island, 131. 

O'BiERNE, Rev. Thomas Lewis 
(Anglican), Secretary and 
Chaplain to Howe, 351; a 
pervert, 351; sketch of, 351, 
352. 

O'Brien, O.S.D., D.D., Father 
Matthew, appointed assistant 
at St. Peter's, 341; extract 
from letter of, concerning St. 
Peter's, 432; extract from 
letter of, to Bishop Carroll, 
432, 458. 

O'Brien, O.S.D., Father Wil- 
liam v., appointed to suc- 
ceed F. Nugent, 382; obtains 
funds and paintings in 
Mexico, 384, 409, 422; opens 
free school, 450; health im- 
paired, 458. 

O'Brien, William, settles in N. 
Y. city, 424; sketch of, 424; 
ancestor of F. William 
O'Brien Pardow, S.J., 424. 

O'Connor, Thomas, in New 
York City, 434; sketch of, 
434, 435, 447. 

O'CoNNELL, O.S.D., Father 
John, arrives in N. Y. city, 
378; chaplain to Spanish Em- 
bassy, 378. 

O'Conor, Charles, born in N. 



Y. city, 435; his illustrious 
career, 435. 

Oglethorpe, Gov. James (of 
Georgia), warns N. Y. au- 
thorities against disguised 
Catholic priests, 264, 265, 283. 

O'Hara, Hugh, 457. 

Ojibway Tribe, 27. 

O'Mahoney, Father, arrives in 
N. Y. city, 434; recommended 
for Albany pastorate, 434. 

"Ondessonk," F. Jogues' Indian 
name, 35. 

Oneida Nation, 23. 

Onondaga, F. Le Moyne discov- 
ers salt springs at, 52, 57. 

Onondaga Nation, 29, 193. 

Orleans, 20. 

ossernenon, 36. 

Ossossane, 27. 

Ottawa River, 33. 

Otto, Louis, French Charg6 
d'Affaires in N. Y., 338 ; men- 
tions burning of Catholic 
chapel in N. Y. in fire of 
1776, 338, 376. 

Oyster Bay, L. I., 83. 

Paco, M., arrested as French 
spy in N. Y., 315. 

Pagganck Island. (See Nut- 
ten and Governor's Island.) 

Palatines, two arrive in N. Y. 
city, 219; causes of exodus, 
22i ; English pamphlet con- 
cerning, 221 ; English govern- 
ment liberal to first arrivals, 
222; naturalized in England, 
223; many Catholics found 
among, 224; immigration to 
England stopped, 224; com- 
missioners appointed to raise 
relief fund for, 225, 226; 
many sent to Ireland, return, 
226 ; " good barriers " against 
French and Indians, 226; 
government agreement with, 
227; ten ships with, arrive in 
N. Y., 227, 228; sheltered on 
Nutten island, 228; ascend 
Hudson to Livingston tract, 
228; Catholics among, in N. 
Y., 228; English public sen- 
timent turns against, 229; 



492 



INDEX 



Londoners petition against, 
230; parliamentary commit- 
tee investigates, 230; suffer 
hardships on Livingston 
tract, 230, 231; escape from 
province, 232; locate in Penn- 
sylvania, 232. 

Palatine, The, ravaged by 
wars, 221. 

Palisades, The, named L'An- 
ormee Berge, 10; AUefonsce 
mentions, 13. 

Palmer, John, 104, 106. 

Panama, Isthmus of, 3. 

Parade or Plain, 51. 

Parent, J., Canadian, prisoner 
of war in N. Y., 326. 

Park Row, 51. 

Parlon, Louis, 327. 

Pardow, S.J., Father William 
O'Brien, 424. 

Pascoal, Padre, prisoner of war 
in N. Y., 219. 

Patchogue Tribe, 83. 

Patte, John, early N. Y. Cath- 
olic, 195. 

Patterson, Elizabeth (Bona- 
parte), in N. Y., on her 
honeymoon, 439; her sad 
story, 439, 440, 441, 442. 

Pearl Street, 48, 74, 80, 86, 114, 
128. 

Peintz, Governor John, per- 
secutes Plowden's colonists, 
38, 41. 

Pelissier, Christophe, sketch 
of, 350. 

Pemaquid, 71, 82. 

Penn, William, grant to, from 
Charles II, 77; covets N. Y. 
territory, 81 ; Dongan foils his 
eflForts to acquire upper Sus- 
quehanna Valley, 88. 

Pennsylvania, 77, 94, 106, 187. 

Pere, Captain, 187. 

Perel Straat (now Pearl 
Street), 48. 

Permittet, Sieur, prisoner of 
war in N. Y., 326. 

Perry, John, N. Y. postman, 
arrested, 150. 

Philadelphia, 117, 331, 335, 

Philip, Indian sachem, 71. 



Phillipse, Frederick, 128. 

Phips, Sir William, 60, 97. 

Pierret, Pastor Antoine 
(Huguenot), abused by Leis- 
ler, 170; applies for deniza- 
tion of alleged Huguenots, 
201. 

PlERSON OR PiERRON, S.J., 

Father, in N. Y., 70. 

PiNHORNE, William, 74; har- 
bors F. Harvey in N. Y. city, 
147. 

Piracy, 16. 

Pirates, 77. 

Piscataqua, 60. 

Plowden, Sir Edmund, arrives 
in New Amsterdam, 37 ; inter- 
view with Gov. Kieft, 38; 
claims Dutch territory, 38; 
sails for New Albion, 38; his 
colonial scheme, 39 ; marooned, 
40; abandons domain, 41; 
death, 41. 

Plowman, Matthew, Catholic, 
appointed Collector of port of 
N. Y., 105; sends public 
money to fort on outbreak of 
Leisler troubles, 118; de- 
nounced as a Catholic, 119, 
129, 136; dismissed from of- 
fice, 141 ; writes Lord Hali- 
fax, 149, 150, 155. 

PONTGIBAUD, ChEVALIER DE, 

visits N. Y. city, 409. 

Pope Innocent X, receives F. 
Bressani, 44. 

Pope Pius VII, erects See of 
New York, 458. 

Population of N. Y. city, 1682, 
87; of province, 1686, 100; of 
city in 1712, 238; of city in 
1740, 250; Catholics in city, 
1808, 458. 

Portugal, 4, 10, 105. 

Portuguese, 34. 

Potencien, Father (see Mich- 
ael Houdin). 

PoucHOT, Captain, Command- 
ant at Fort Niagara, 311; 
brought a prisoner of war to 
N. Y., 328. 

Prearie, M. de la, 131. 

Prudhomme, 9. 



INDEX 



493 



Printing Press, James' instruc- 
tions concerning, 103; identi- 
cal with William's to Fletcher, 
192. 

Privateering, 16; Arthur Helm, 

298, 299 ; Helm punished, 305 ; 
cruelty to French prisoners, 
306, 307; French ships cap- 
tured after peace, 308; Rob- 
ert Troup kidnaps free Span- 
iards, 313, 324; privateering 
active, 324; complaints from 
the home government, 324; 
take ship carrying Papal flag, 
326, 328. 

Prisoners of War (French 
AND Canadian), many in N. 
Y. city, 192, 197, 198, 200, 
219: sent to Flatbush and 
Hempstead, 233; number of 
in city, 243, 293, 294, 295, 298, 

299, 306; many leave for 
home, 306; Gov. Clinton 
charged with " grafting," 
306; cast adrift at sea by 
privateers, 307, 308; twenty- 
one reach N. Y. badly 
wounded, 317; shipped home 
on Spanish vessels, 325; or- 
dered distributed and sub- 
sisted at public expense, 325; 
some shipped to French 
ports, 325; subsistence of 
prisoners a public burden, 
326, 327; break jail, 327. 

Prisoners of War (Spanish), 
many in N. Y. city, 235, 243; 
free Spanish subjects con- 
demned to slavery, 254, 294; 
held as slaves, 295; petition 
Gov. Clinton for freedom, 
295, 298, 299, 306, 307, 308, 
311, 312, 314. 

PuEBLA de xos Angeles, dona- 
tion to St. Peter's, 384. 

PuiLLiN, Francois, entertains 
French visitors, 205. 

PuLLEN, Sheriff Thomas, of 
Orange County, charged with 
Catholic tendencies, 248, 249. 

Pynchon, John, 74. 

Quakers, 219, 452. 

Quebec, F. Jogues, Charletain 



and Gamier reach, 21 ; in 
1636, 21, 23, 25, 28; F. Jogues 
returns to, 35; F. Bressani 
in, 44, 53, 57, 60, 100; French 
Protestant officers send in- 
formation to Mass., 194, 335; 
stormed by Americans, 341. 

Quebec Act, preserves rights 
of Catholics, 335; feeling 
against strong in N. Y., 337; 
broadside against, 337. 

Queens County, outbreak 
against Leisler in, 170; 
French war prisoners in, 170, 

Queen Street, 332. 

QuiRRYNSE, Lieut. Carl, 66. 

QuoGUE, L. I., 8. 

Ramesay, visits New York, 247. 

Ranelagh Garden, 332. 

Regonville, Major, prisoner in 
New York, 339; asks permis- 
sion to perform Easter duty, 
339. 

Raymbault, S.J., Father 
Charles, 27. 

Reade Street, 332. 

Regiments (American), many 
Catholics in Pennsylvania 
and Maryland, 350. 

Regiments (British): Sey- 
mours, 236; Kane's, 236; 
Clayton's, 236; Kirk's, 236; 
Disney's, 236; Windresse's, 
236; Redding's, 236; Pepper- 
el's (51st), 316; Shirlev's 
50th— Dirty Half Hundred), 
316; 16th,' 335; 18th Royal 
Irish, 339, 340; 60th Royal 
American, 350; Roman Cath- 
olic Volunteers, 355, 358 ; Vol- 
unteers of Ireland (105th), 
358. 

Regiments (French and Can- 
adians) : La Reine, 327; La 
Sarre, 327, 328; Royal Rou- 
sillon, 327, 328; Languedoc, 
327; Guienne, 327,328; Berry, 
327 ; Beam, 328 ; Marines, 328 ; 
Bourbonnais, 359; Soisson- 
nais, 359; Lauzun's Legion, 
360. 

Regiments (German Auxili- 
aries) : Some Catholics in, 



494 



INDEX 



351 ; Catholic Chaplain in 
Anhalt-Zerbst, 353. 

Rene, Chevalier de, prisoner 
of war in N. Y., 326. 

Rensselaerswyck. (See Al- 
bany.) 

Revolutionary War, New 
York on eve of, 337, 338. 

Rhode Island, 77. 

RiBERA, Diego, his map indicates 
Sandy Hook, New York Bay 
and Hudson River, 10. 

RiGGs, John, 133; arrives in 
New York, 154. 

Rivington's Gazette, doggerel 
on French alliance, 358, 359. 

Roberval, Sieur, 12. 

ROCHAMBEAU, GENERAL JeAN 

Baptiste, Donation de Vi- 
MiEUR, commander of French 
forces, 360. 

Rochambeatj, Vicomte de, 359. 

Rochefoucauld - Liancourt 
D'EsTissAC Due DE LA, skctch 
of, in New York, 415, 416. 

ROCHELLE, LA, 4, 5, 13, 20, 43. 

RocKAWAY Beach, 8. 

RocKAWAY Tribe, 83. 

Roman Catholic Volunteers, 
history of, 355, 356, 357, 358. 

Roosevelt, John, 263. 

RossELL, Chevalier de, 244. 

Rome (Italy), F. Bressani, 
born in, 42. 

Roth, Michael, 451, 457. 

Rouville, prisoner in New 
York, 339. 

Russell, Ensign George, ar- 
rested by Leislerites in N. Y., 
147. 

Ryall, prisoner in New York, 
339. 

Saens de Bitare (Father An- 
dre), prisoner of war in New 
York, 244; robbed, 244. 

Sagamite, 24. 

Saguenay River, Allefonsce at 
mouth of, 12, 20. 

St. Aignan, Denis Courten de, 
master of " Le Talente," 237; 
carries wrecked Englishmen 
to New York, 237; robbed by 



British naval captain, 237, 
238, 

Saint Aulaire, Chevalier de, 
French officer in American 
army, 349. 

St. Bendito, Antonio de, 
Spanish Catholic Negro tried 
for conspiracy, 367. 

St. Charles River, 31. 

Saint Gelais, Melin, 13. 

St. George's Square, 333. 

St. John's (Newfoundland), 
13. 

St. Lawrence Bay, 20. 

St. Lawrence River, explored 
by Allefonsce, 12, 30, 28, 89, 
316. 

Saint-Maime, Col. Compte de, 
359. 

Saint Marie Mission, 27. 

Saint Martin, Lieu. Col., 
French officer in American 
army, 349. 

Saint Merv, Medric Louis 
Elie Moreau de, in extreme 
poverty in New York, 412; 
sketch of, 412, 413. 

Saintonge, 12. 

St. Ours, 339; prisoner in New 
York, 339. 

St. Peters, Church, Trustees 
appointed without ecclesias- 
tical authority, 370; corner 
stone laid, 373; description 
of, 373; invites Father Jones, 
O.S.F., 377, 378; people agi- 
tate for F. Whalen's removal, 
378; High Mass solemnized, 
379 ; trustees elected, 381 ; ask 
F. Nugent's dismissal, 381 ; 
strife in, 382; F. Nugent sus- 
pended, 383 ; F. Wm. O'Brien 
appointed, 382; front portico 
and sacristy furnished, pews 
installed, 411; petition Trin- 
ity Corporation for abate- 
ment of rent, 431; donation 
of jjastor to Trinity School, 
432; F. Mathew O'Brien ap- 
pointed assistant, 431 ; debt, 
1800, 432; organ purchased, 
choir organized, 433; congre- 
gation grows, 433 ; churchyard 



INDEX 



495 



purchased, 433; improvements, 
433; Dr. Hurley assist at, 
during epidemic, 449; Abbe 
Sibourd assists at, 449; 
trustees protest against oath, 
450; free school receives pub- 
lic funds, 450; trustees in 
1800, 451 ; Christmas Eve riot 
outside of, 456. 

Salisbttry, Capt., 72, 74, 

Salvaye, Sietje Peter de, envoy 
to Brockholls in New York, 
78, 97. 

Saist Antonio River. (See 
Hudson River.) 

San Christobel (see New 
York Bay). 

San Domingo, revolution in, 
drives many to New York, 
411, 413. 

Sandy Hook, C. de S. Marie on 
MaioUo's Map, 7; named by 
Gomez, Cabo de Arenas, 10, 
187. 

San Miguel, Gitadape, 11. 

Santa Maria of the Azores, 
4. 

Saratoga, Dongan projects In- 
dian Catholic Settlement at, 
102. 

Sault Sainte Marie, Father 
Jogues and Raymbault at, 27. 

Schenectady, 80, 105; mas- 
sacre at, 158, 187. 

ScHRiCK, Susanna, 74; marries 
Brockholls, 76. 

ScHRiCK, Paulus, a Hartford 
settler, 74 ; Brockholls' father- 
in-law, 74. 

Schuyler, John, lures Father 
de Marieul into captivity, 
233. 

Schuyler, Peter, 233, 326. 

Scotch, 236; family lost in 
wreck off Seven Islands, 236; 
articles of Catholic devotion 
found in wreckage, 236; 
Highland Catholics land in 
New York, 333. 

Scotland, 99. 

Scott, John Morin, 334. 

Secatague Tribe, 83. 

Selyns, Dominie Henry, to 



Classis of Amsterdam on 
Catholics, 78; letter to Clas- 
sis, 113; parsonage searched 
by Leislerites, 154; letter to 
Classis denouncing Leisler, 
169; preaches against Leis- 
lerism, 181 ; notifies Leisler of 
his fate, 184; attends him on 
scaffold, 184; writes to Clas- 
sis concerning New York, 
193, 194. 

Seneca Nation, 23, 57, 105. 

Setauket Tribe, 83. 

Seton, Elizabeth (Mother 
Seton), her account of 
quarantined Irish immigrants, 
434; her early life, conversion 
and subsequent career, 442, 
443, 444, 445, 446. 

Seven Year's War, 315. 

Seze, Ellen Eugenia ADELAroE 
DE, Baptized in St. Peters, 
430. 

Seze, John Baptist Alexis 
Mary de, French emigre in 
New York, 430. 

Shelter Island, L. I., 83. 

Shearman, 327. 

Sherbiel, M., prisoner of war 
in New York, 306. 

Shinnececk Tribe, 83. 

Ships: Adventure, 197; Alli- 
ance, 361; Amazon, 244 
America, 364; Archangel 
171; Asia, 339; Asted, 367 
Atlanta, 365; Bachelors, 295 
Beaver, 118; Bermuda, 324 
Black Prince, 362; Blessed 
William, 161; Bordeaux, 150 
Boston, 439; Brave Hawk, 
308; Canterbury, 171; Castle 
65; Castor, 306, 307; Ceres 
366; Charming Peggv, 324 
Constant Abigal, 218; Con- 
stant Warwick, 218; Coureur 
de I'Amerique, 365; Coureur 
I'Europe, 365; Coureur de 
New York, 365; Coureur de 
rOrlent, 365; Cruizer, 303; 
D'Aigrette, 386; Dauphin, 1, 
5, 7, 14; Delaware, 364; Dia- 
mond, 65, 66, 115; Dolphin, 
354; Due de Lauzun, 361; 



496 



INDEX 



Edward, 363; Effingham, 363; 
Embuscade, 187; Feversham, 
236; Flamborough, 251; 
Fleur de la Mar, 313; Four- 
gon, 187; Fox, 308; Galves- 
ton, 406; General Johnson, 
337; General Monk, 400; 
George, 337; Golden Fleece, 
73; Halve Maen, 14; Harlem, 
364; Hector, 337; Hester, 
311; Hornet, 363; Hyder 
Ally, 400; Immaculate Con- 
ception and St. Ignatio de 
Loiola, 336; John and Cath- 
erine, 161 ; John and James, 
171; John and Rebecca, 197; 
Joseph, 337; Kingston, 335, 
303; La Garce, 16; L' Alliga- 
tor, 365; L'Amazone, 308; 
La Princesse, 190; La Reno- 
mee, 303, 304; La Virgen del 
Rosario y el Santo Cristo de 
Buen Viage, 334; Le Con- 
corde, 307; Le Languedoc, 
354; Le Marechal de Saxe, 
307; Le Mars, 307; L'Espe- 
rance, 190; Le Talente, 337; 
Lexington, 363; Le Zephire, 
307; L'Industrie, 308; Lowes- 
toft, 236; Marguerite, 306; 
Mars, 365; Mary, 237; Mi- 
nerva, 365; Muyall Tromp, 
65; Neptune, 337; Nuestra 
Senore de Guadalupe, 334; 
Otter, 114; Planter's Adven- 
ture, 77; Pollux, 306, 307; 
Prince Charles, 306; Prophet 
Elias, 160; Queen Ann, 217; 
Raleigh, 364; Ranger, 304; 
Resolution, 161; Revenge, 
336; Richmond, 198; Royal 
Albany, 161; Royal Cath- 
erine, 307; Ruth, 77; St. 
Charles, 308; Saint Francois 
Xavier, 187; St. Jean, 190; 
St. Joseph, 337; St. Michael, 
343; St. Pierre, 190; Samson, 
409; Samuel, 335; San Miguel 
y la Virgen de los Dolores, 
399; San Vincente Ferrer, 
308; Senorita Del S. Carmen, 
311; Sita Gratia, 197; Sto 
Christo del Burgo, 335; Sun- 



flower, 343; Swallow, 243; 
Sybille, 343, 261; Telmaque, 
383; Trepassy, 365; Triton's 
Prize, 317, 218; Union, 190; 
United States, 366; Victory, 
334; William, 77, 306. 

" Shoeinge," The, description 
of, 49. 

SiBouRD, Father Louis, in New 
York, 433; sketch of, 423, 
424, 449. 

Skiddy, John R., 457. 

SiLVA, Juan de la, Spanish 
Catholic negro, tried for con- 
spiracy, 267; condemned to 
death, 368; hanged, 369. 

SiLVA Jose Roiz, 368; trustee 
of Catholic Church, 370; 
sketch of, 373, 396, 409; dies 
of yellow fever, 424. 

Sloughter, Governor Henry, 
arrives in New York on 
"Archangel," 177; assumes 
command, 178; appoints 
judges to try Leisler and 
others, 181 ; signs Leisler's 
and Milborne's death war- 
rants, 183. 

Slaves, Indian and Negro, 213; 
commit murder in Queens, 
339; outbreak of in New 
York, 240, 241, 242. 

Smith, Captain John, 14. 

Smith, Father Peter, in N. 
Y., 62. 

Smith, William, 122. 

Smithtown, L. I., 83. 

Smit's V'ly or Smith's Val- 
ley, 80; blockhouse in, sur- 
renders, 175. 

Society for the Propagation 
OF the Gospel in Foreign 

. Parts, Rev. T. Moore's letter 
to, 316, 338, 231, 243, 391, 
392; Rev. R. Jenney writes to 
" No Popery in New York," 
295. 

SoLJETT, Louis, French-Cana- 
dian agent in New York, 219. 

Souge, Father Jean Ambrose, 
in New York, 423; sketch of, 
423. 



INDEX 



497 



Southampton, L. I., 70, 83, 119, 

SotTTHOLD, L. I., 70, 83. 

Spain, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 16, 105, 
243, 307; King Charles IV, 
donation to St. Peter's, New 
York, 373. 

Spaniards, 3, 5, 12, 16, 45. 

Spanish America, 3. 

Speth, George, 409. 

Spice Islands, 10. 

Spragg, John, clerk, first as- 
sembly, 90. 

Springfield, Mass., 71. 

Stadt Htjys or City Hall, 
originally the Harburg or 
tavern, 17, 49; description of, 
49, 67, 86. 

Stamp Act passed and re- 
pealed, 334. 

Staten Island, 65, 77,93; Don- 
gan erects Cassiltown, 123, 
131, 215; Acadian refugees 
settle temporarily in, 320; 
Irish immigrants on, 433. 

States-General, Dutch mer- 
chants petition, 15, 32, 66, 67. 

Steenwyck, Councilor Cor- 

NELIS, 66. 

Stewart, James, Trustee Cath- 
olic Church, 370, 396. 

Stoll, Ensign Joost, 150, 154; 
announces appointment of 
. Governor Sloughter, 164. 

Stoughton, Don Thomas, Do- 
minie Lynch's partner, 391; 
arrives in New York, 391; 
sketch of, 393, 394; obituary 
in "Truth Teller," 409, 431, 
451. 

Stockade or Wall, description 
of. 

Stone Street, 80. 

Strand, The, 48. 

Stuyvesant, Governor Peter, 
Plowden visits, 38; comes to 
New Amsterdam, 45 ; his per- 
sonality, 46, 47, 61; surren- 
ders New Amsterdam, 61; in 
disgrace, 62. 

Suffolk County, 120, 122; 
prisoners sent to, 328. 

Susquehanna Tribe, 23. 



Swedish Delaware Possessions, 
38, 41. 

Sullivan, John, 397, 409, 431. 

Tadoussac, 20. 

Talbot, Mark, Catholic in 
Dongan's suite, 88; sent to 
London, 93. 

Talbot, Dongan's maternal an- 
cestry, 84. 

Talleyrand de Perigord, 
Charles Maurice, in New 
York, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420. 

Tangiers (Africa), 85. 

Taxation, 91. 

Test Act, passed 1673, 67;~in- 
operative in colonies, 68; text 
of oath, 178, 179; becomes 
inoperative in Canada, 335. 

Thatcher, Thomas, 72. 

Thames River, 8. 

Thayer, Father John, 422. 

Thebaud, Joseph, in New York, 
420; sketch of, 420, 421. 

Third Plenary Council, Kal- 
timore, 36. 

TiNNEY, William, 409. 

Tisserant, Abbe, J.S., 445. 

Tobacco Nation, 23, 27. 

ToNANCouR, prisoner in New 
York, 339. 

ToussAiNT, Peter, Dominican 
slave brought to New York, 
413, 414; his charity; death 
of, 413, 414. 

Tracy, Governor Alexandre 
Prouville de, 57. 

Trapani, Anthony, 457. 

Treat, Go\'ernor Robert, of 
Connecticut, 92. 

Treaty of Westminster, 65. 

Trinity Church, 291, 316; col- 
lection for Highlanders in, 
333; burned, 351; oflFers to 
sell St. Peter's trustees site 
of church, 421; donation for 
school from St. Peter's pas- 
tor, 422. 

Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers), 
60. 

Tuder, John, Captain, Leisler 

denounces, 167, 168. 
Turenne, Marshal, 84. 



498 



INDEX 



T'WATEE POORT OR WaTER GaTE, 
50, 

Tymense, Elsje, Leisler's wife, 
114. 

Ulster Coukty, 145. 

Ury, John, sketch of, 269; 
schoolmaster, 269; denounced 
as " Papist " priest, 270 ; ar- 
raigned, pleaded not guilty, 
278; convicted, 279; his ca- 
reer, 280, 281; respited, 287; 
hanged, 287. 

Valiniere, Father Pierre 
HuET DE LA, Sulpitian, 369, 
373, 374; sketch of, 374, 375, 
376, 377. 

Van Brug, Burgomaster Jo- 
hannes, 66, 

Van Corlaer, Arendt, 33. 

Van Cortlandt, Jacobus, 96. 

Van Cortlandt, Stephen, 
Mayor, 118, 124, 128, 136; de- 
nounced as " Papist," 136, 
138, 152; warrant issued for, 
157. 

Van Hoboken, Harmanus, 
New Amsterdam schoolmas- 
ter, 49. 

Van Der Grift, Paulus Leed- 
ertsen, 51. 

Van Loon, Jan, 76. 

Van Rensselaer, The Rev. 
Nicholas, comes to New 
York as chaplain to garrison, 
66; troubles with Leisler, 
115. 

Van Rensselaer Island, 11. 

Van Rensselaer, Patroon, 32. 

Varet, Francis, 457. 

Varick, Dominie Rudolphus, 
letter to Classis, 113; im- 
prisoned by Leisler, 169; 
writes Classis concerning con- 
dition in N. Y., 192. 

Vaudreuil, Philip de Rigaud, 
Governor of New France, 
233, 236, 318, 326, 327; sur- 
renders New France, 330. 

Vauxhall Garden, 332. 

Vega, Don Francisco Caxegal 
de, tries to restore enslaved 
Spaniards, 323. 

Verrazano, Giovanni Da, early 



history of, 1, 2; preys on 
Spanish commerce, 3, 4, 5; 
sent by Francis I to seek a 
westward passage to Spice 
Islands, 5; the voyage begun, 
6; sights the North Carolina 
coast, 6; enters the Bay of 
New York, 7; Lond Island 
and New England, 8, 9; ar- 
rives at Dieppe, 9; his subse- 
quent history, 9, 10, 12. 

Vermenet, Brevet-Major Jean 
Arthur de, French officer in 
American army, 349. 

Viar, Jose, Spanish Charg§ 
D'Affaires in New York, 408. 

ViBERT, AnTOINE FeLIX, 

French engineer in American 
army, 349. 

Villebon, Chevalier de Robi- 
NEAU, visits New York, 187. 

ViNCENTiAN Fathers, 446. 

Virginia, 15, 37, 107. 

VuiLLET, Gov. John Sieur de 
Chassaigne, envoy in New 
York, 248; sketch of, 248. 

Walsh, Captain John, Cath- 
olic privateersman, impris- 
oned, 354; sketch of, 354. 

Walsh, James, 457. 

Walters, Robert, Leisler's son- 
in-law, elected alderman, 152. 

Wall Street, 51, 80, 332; Jos- 
eph Idley's house on, 338. 

Walton House, 332. 

Washington, General George, 
in New York city, 345; com- 
mands French - American 
army that threatens New 
York, 360; inaugurated, 406, 
407, 408. 

Watcessit, Plowden's manor at, 
40. 

"Water Side," The, 80. 

\Vedderborne, George, 122. 

West, John, 74. 

West Broadway, 332. 

West Indies, 2, 105; number of 
slaves from, in New York, 
247. 

Whelan, Father Charles 
(Capuchin), comes to N. Y., 
368; sketch of, 368, 369, 377, 



INDEX 



499 



378; leaves N. Y., 380; Arch- 
bishop Spalding's eulogy of, 
381, 382. 

Walsh, S.S,, Father Andrew, 
34. 

Whitehall StreeT;, 48, 80, 114. 

William, Prince of Orange, 
67, 109; invited to England, 
lands in Torbay, 110; rumors 
of an invasion reaches New 
York, 117. 

William and Mary, 133. 

William III, King of Eng- 
land, address from Leisle- 
rites, 133; his relations with 
Captain Kidd, 213. 



WiLLiABi Street, 335. 

Williams, John, pirate, 77. 

Winckel Straat (now White- 
hall Street), 48. 

WiNTHROP, Governor John, 
41; writes Bellomont con- 
cerning Jesuits, 205. 

Wood, James, Catholic soldier 
in New York garrison, 197; 
sent back to England, 197. 

WooLEY, The Rev. James, 
Chaplain in fort, 74. 

Worth Street, 11. 

Yong, Captain Thomas, a 
colonist of Plowden's, 39. 



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